Our Fairytale
by SunnyMagicKingdom
Summary: Sakura Haruno is a princess who dreams of having an ending like that of a fairytale. Unfortunately for her, the prince in her life isn't like what she has expected. After all, Sasuke Uchiha isn't your typical prince. However, when they embarked on a mission along with their friends, perhaps she will slowly realize that she doesn't mind that at all. (AU)
1. A Royal Encounter

Author's Note: This is my third Naruto fanfic featuring the Sasuke/Sakura pairing! Am I in love with this pairing? Yes, I am. And perhaps I love them a little too much! But I don't mind at all. Anyway, I hope you'll like this fanfic and support it!

P.S. This story is based on an alternate universe and instead of having ninjutsu, the characters have swordsmanship or other physical skills. So to put things simple, the setting of this fanfic is somewhat like the medieval times. There are castles, horses, knights and, of course, royal families.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: A Royal Encounter

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

I had a dream. A dream which I swore I would fulfill. A dream which I lived to see it became a reality.

I dreamed of meeting my ideal prince and falling heads over heels in love with him. Then he would fall in love with me too and cared for me unconditionally. We would live happily ever after, like the princesses and princes in the fairytales I grew up with.

A girl was allowed to dream, wasn't she?

My closest friends had always said that my dream didn't suit my personality. They said it was too 'girly' for someone as fierce and independent as me. But I ignored them and continued living in my own little fantasy.

And one day, this fragment of my imagination would turn into my future.

"Sakura."

I groaned as my best friend's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I narrowed my eyes at the blonde in front of me for disturbing my little alone time.

"What are you doing here, Ino?"

Ino Yamanaka was both my first friend and best friend. We had known each other even before we learned how to walk. She was the princess of the Yamanaka Kingdom, which was a neighboring country of where I lived. Their country was well-known for their mesmerizing flowers. The flowers grown on their lands were definitely one of a kind.

As for me, I am Sakura Haruno, princess of the Haruno Kingdom. Our country was known for its advanced medical skills and we had the best doctors in the world. I aspired to be a successful doctor in the future as well. This was an ambition I valued as much as my other dream of living in my own fairytale.

And I must say I had been doing well with my medical studies.

I was still 18 years old but my medical skills were comparable to experienced adults in the Haruno Kingdom. My parents and other elders in the country had high hopes on me and I wasn't planning to disappoint them. I swore that I would continue working hard to improve myself so I could become a doctor who would be capable of healing all sorts of diseases.

My determined and hard working personality had labeled me as an independent princess. Unlike Ino who was known to be a spoiled princess, I was known to be more mature.

"You need to get ready now, Sakura! It's almost time for the party."

I groaned once again upon hearing Ino's words. It was then when I realized that Ino was already ready for the party. She wore a tight black dress which reached all the way to her feet. She completed her look with a pair of black heels and a sparkly diamond necklace. Instead of her usual ponytail, she had put her long blonde hair down.

Unlike me, she was definitely ready for the party.

It wasn't like I hated parties. But ever since I turned 18 years old, my parents were constantly trying to introduce me to various princes from all over the place. It was as if they were worried I wouldn't be able to get married or something. It was getting on my nerves and I told my parents to stop doing that.

And of course, they didn't listen.

Before I could protest, Ino was dragging me away from the garden and towards my room. The party would be held in the Haruno Castle and royal families from all over the world were invited. I heard that even royal families from far away countries would be attending the party. That was why I was expecting to meet people I had never met before.

Who knew, I might meet the prince of my dream.

For the second time that day, Ino snapped me out of my thoughts with that high pitched voice of hers. She had successfully dragged me into my room and closed the door behind us. She had always been overly excited for parties and I knew exactly why; she simply enjoyed flirting with charming princes.

"It's only an hour away before the party will start! And you have not even started preparing yourself. Unbelievable!"

"An hour is a long time, pig."

Yes, 'pig' was the nickname I gave Ino when we were kids. I never stopped using it and I wasn't planning to stop any time soon.

Ino rolled her eyes at me and went to open my wardrobe. I walked over to my king sized bed and sat on it as I watched Ino looking for a dress. She had always liked helping me dress up for parties and I allowed her to do it all the time. After all, Ino was weirdly more concerned of how I looked compared to how I cared about myself.

Ino grinned as she handed me a long beige dress. It has transparent sleeves and the dress was decorated by beautiful laces. My mother gave me that dress a year ago but I never worn it before.

"Hurry up and change into this dress! I will work on your makeup and hair afterwards."

I did what Ino told me and changed into the dress she chose. I was surprised that it looked even better when I wore it. The dress reached the floor but that problem was fixed when I put on my black heels. The dress fitted me so perfectly and my curves were beautifully emphasized.

Ino seemed to be thinking of the same thing and was squealing happily when I finished changing. She excitedly did my makeup and hairdo right afterwards. I never had to worry about my appearance with Ino around because she definitely knew her stuffs.

My makeup was light but it was more than enough to make me looked beyond acceptable. My pink long straight hair, which reached slightly above my waist, was curled for the night.

I must say I was satisfied when I saw myself in the mirror.

Ino grabbed onto my shoulders with a wide grin on her face and she looked equally satisfied with her creation.

"You look great, Sakura! Who knows, you might meet your prince charming tonight."

And I sure hoped Ino was right about that.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

"This is annoying."

I was on my way to a party which was held at the Haruno Kingdom's castle. It was a country which was far from the Uchiha Kingdom so I had never been there. My parents, who were the king and queen of our lands, were close to the rulers of the Haruno Kingdom through business though.

I was in a carriage with my older brother, Itachi Uchiha, who seemed to feel alright regarding the party. On the other hand, I was feeling very frustrated.

"It's just a party where royal families gather to get to know one another, Sasuke."

"And that is why it's annoying. You know how father and mother have been introducing a bunch of princesses to me. It's not fair that they don't do that to you."

"Maybe our parents are worried you'll never get married with that attitude of yours so they are constantly introducing you to girls."

I glared at my brother for saying that so casually. I knew that I wasn't as 'obedient' as my older brother and there were times I had more opinions than deemed necessary. But I wasn't going to sit back and let my parents decide for my future. I swore I wouldn't let that happen.

"Perhaps they'll stop doing that if you would get yourself a girlfriend, Sasuke."

"And perhaps I will be able to do that if they would stop pushing girls onto my face."

Itachi sighed and gave up arguing with me. He had always said how his younger brother had grown up too fast and he was missing that adorable little boy I once was. I would always glare at him whenever he said that. He was talking as if I was some sort of a problematic child.

To be fair, I was just slightly more stubborn than I should be and perhaps a little bit cold. I wasn't an expressive person which always made people assume that I was arrogant. I was definitely not arrogant, I was just simply confident.

Alright, perhaps I was kind of overconfident but whatever.

"Itachi Ouji-sama, Sasuke Ouji-sama, we have arrived at the Haruno castle."

I grunted when I heard the coachman announcing that we had arrived. Itachi sighed once again at my reaction before leaving the carriage. As much as I hated it, I followed my brother anyway. Neither my parents nor my older brother would agree if I said I wanted to stay inside the carriage instead of attending the party.

"Some of your friends are here at the party as well. Go talk to them to make yourself feel better about being here."

"Whatever."

And that was the start of a much dreaded party.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

"Oh my goodness, he's really here. I haven't seen him in a while."

I had allowed Ino to drag me around the party so that I could avoid my parents' matchmaking sessions. And I must be desperately trying to avoid those dreadful sessions to have ended up hiding behind a pillar with Ino.

Like I had mentioned, Ino enjoyed flirting with good looking princes from all over the world. And with her beauty and flirting skills, she could easily make men fall in love with her. Well, at least that was what I thought.

Apparently, there was one prince she wasn't able to successfully flirt with even though she had been trying for more than half her life. And that was the prince she had been stalking since the start of the party.

"Ino, you're acting like a creepy pervert."

"Keep it down, Sakura. Shikamaru might here you."

The prince whom Ino was obsessed over was none other than Shikamaru Nara, prince of the Nara Kingdom. His reputation as one of the smartest princes had spread across all lands. However, his reputation for being the laziest prince alive was well-known as well.

I had always found it to be so unfair that he could still be so smart despite his lazy personality.

I first met him when I was 10 years old during a party held by the royal family of the Yamanaka Kingdom. Ino, on the other hand, had known Shikamaru since she was born. The Yamanaka and Nara Kingdoms had been close to each other for the longest of time and their relationship had stayed that way until the present time. Both kingdoms were in extremely close terms with the Akimichi Kingdom too.

Anyway, Ino had always referred Shikamaru as her guy best friend. I wasn't so sure if Shikamaru felt the same though.

And somehow, Ino had found herself falling in love with the lazy prince she had known all her life. However, she was very possessive and had been chasing away princesses who were trying to get close to Shikamaru. And trust me, with the looks Shikamaru possessed, there were a lot of girls Ino had chased away.

A love stricken Ino wasn't someone one should offend in the first place.

"How do I look, Sakura?"

"You look fine, Ino. What are you planning to do this time?"

Ino had tried various ways to make Shikamaru fall in love with her. She had been trying for years and to be honest, I had not seen any progress. It was either Ino was failing horribly in making Shikamaru fall in love with her or Shikamaru was just really good in hiding his feelings.

As Ino's best friend, I really hoped it was the later.

"This time, I will definitely make Shikamaru fall in love with me."

With that said and an evil grin on her face, Ino left me and walked over to Shikamaru. I sighed, not knowing what to do after my best friend had left me to flirt with her lazy prince. I wanted to go and hang out with my other close friends but they were too busy in their own little worlds.

Hinata was too busy trying not to faint from being too close to Naruto Uzumaki, the prince from the Uzumaki Kingdom. It was not a secret that the Hyuuga Kingdom's princess was deeply in love with that loud prince. It was amazing how Naruto had yet to realize Hinata's feelings for him. He was such an idiot.

I had known Naruto for a long time and we're considered close I guessed. He used to have a crush on me but I made it clear that I wasn't interested. From then on, we continued being close friends although he always annoyed me with his stupidity.

But I guessed he wouldn't be Naruto if he wasn't an idiot.

As for Tenten, she was with Neji, as usual. Tenten was a princess from a land near the Hyuuga Kingdom. However, when Tenten was just a young child, a horrible civil war broke out in her country and her entire family was killed. Tenten was the only survivor. The Hyuuga Kingdom took over the lands to save the civilians from starvation. As for Tenten, she was adopted by the royal family of the Hyuuga Kingdom. And from then on, let's just say that Prince Neji never let Tenten out of his sight.

He was too in love with her to let her go and I honestly found it very romantic.

And there was me, alone and annoyed.

I wasn't going anywhere near my parents and risked having to go through those match making sessions. I hated having to fake smiles and acted like someone I wasn't. If I were to find a boyfriend, it must be someone who was ready to accept me for who I was.

I had no plans to fake my personality for the rest of my life.

With no other ideas on what to do, I decided to leave the party hall and went to catch some fresh air at the garden. The garden was a few minute walk away from the party hall and I had always loved staying there. The flowers smelled especially great at night and I loved being surrounded by its scents. They weren't as magnificent as those grown in the Yamanaka Kingdom but it was enough to make me relaxed.

I sat on a bench under the moonlight and let the night breeze caressed my skin. I could still hear the music and chattering of the party but it still felt peaceful being alone in the garden.

At least, I thought I was alone.

I suddenly felt the presence of other people around me and stood up immediately. I looked around and I was proven to be right in an instant. Men who were covered in black cloth were coming out from their hiding behind the trees of the garden.

I glared at them as I kept my guard up. I had no idea who they were but it was obvious they weren't friends. I cursed at myself when I found out I didn't have my sword with me. My swordsmanship was acknowledged by the people around me but there was definitely room for improvement.

But right now, my sword wasn't with me and I had to rely on my physical abilities, which were something I was rather proud of, to be honest.

When the men started to charge towards me, I took a deep breath and punched the closest one to me. I heard that man winced in pain and smirked at my little achievement. I quickly turned around to lay another punch on the man who was dangerously close to my back. The garden was rather dark so I couldn't make out how many people were there.

But I knew there were quite a number of them and that was not a good sign.

When I was busy laying punches on a man who had successfully hit me on the arm, my waist was caught by another person.

" _Damn it."_

The man who had caught me raised his arm to lay a punch on me. I quickly closed my eyes in reflex as I prepared myself for the impact.

But instead of receiving a punch on my face, I felt another hand holding onto my waist followed by a man grunting in pain.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw my earlier attacker lying on the floor while holding onto his stomach. I blinked in confusion and glanced over the person who had protected me.

I swore I was immediately captivated by my savior's dashing looks.

His raven hair looked so soft under the moonlight and his dark eyes emitted a charming kind of mystery. The frown on his face made him even manlier than he already was. And his well toned body was definitely a huge plus point.

" _How could someone look so perfect?"_

I felt myself blush when the man holding onto me glanced over to me. My heart was thumping crazily against my best under his intimidating gaze.

Perhaps, this was the prince I had been waiting for all this time?

Unfortunately, I was proven wrong almost immediately after he opened his mouth.

"Instead of gawking at me, it's better if you get a hold of yourself and fight the enemy in front of you."

Wait, what?

I saw my dream shattered right in front of my eyes and my earlier happiness was soon replaced by anger. I was beyond mad at the rudeness of the man holding onto me and I hated myself for even thinking for a second that he might be the prince I had been anticipating.

I released myself from his grip and glared at him intensely. I had never been so wrong in my life and as if I would ever fall in love with someone with such a problematic attitude.

"As if I would ever gawk at you!"

I had told a huge lie but I didn't care. I wasn't intending to boost his ego by letting him found out that I was mesmerized by his good looks.

I felt my blood boil when I saw him smirk arrogantly at me. He definitely saw through me and I was really pissed off. I swore I had never felt so annoyed in my entire life.

I chose to release my anger on the enemy in front of me. I laid punches again and again at the charging men and I wasn't even holding back my strength. Once in a while, I would glance over at that rude guy and would see how well he handled his sword.

I hated to admit it but my swordsmanship was incomparable to his. His skills seemed to be almost flawless and I could see that he was definitely as good as Neji Hyuuga. He might actually be better.

Before we could finish off the enemy, guards from the Haruno Castle had arrived and had taken things over. There were at least ten guards and it didn't take long before every single enemy was captured.

"Sakura Hime-sama, are you alright?"

The captain of the guards approached me with concern. I smiled at him and assured him I was fine.

"I'm alright. Please don't inform my parents about this first. I don't wish to cause a commotion since we have a lot of guests in the castle right now. Start interrogating them and gather as much information as possible."

"I understand, Hime-sama."

"You're the princess of the Haruno Kingdom. I wouldn't expect someone as fierce and unladylike such as you to be a princess."

I glared towards the man who just couldn't seem to control that attitude of his. I knew I was reaching the limit of my tolerance and I chose to leave before I made a scene. I quickly checked my appearance and was relieved I looked alright.

And before heading back to the party hall, I glanced over at the man again and gave him a piece of my mind.

"It's annoying when people stereotype."

He was definitely not the ideal prince I had been dreaming of.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

As I left the garden and walked back to the party hall, my mind was filled with my earlier encounter with the pink haired princess. I had left the party hall to catch some fresh air because I had nothing better to do.

My closest friends were too busy flirting with girls and I didn't want to stay anywhere near them. Neji, as usual, was totally focused on Tenten. As for Naruto, he was talking about the most useless things to the Hyuuga princess without realizing that she was going to faint any time soon. As for Shikamaru, he had his hands full trying to handle the possessive Yamanaka princess.

But I had never been so glad to have decided to leave the party venue. After all, I got to meet a rather unique woman.

To be honest, I was really impressed by her fighting skills. She was able to beat up quite a number of men without any weapon on her. And to be able to do that while wearing a long dress and heels was definitely splendid.

And it was undeniable that she was beautiful. Her unique hair shone under the moonlight and her skin appeared to be soft and flawless. The fierce look she had as she glared at her enemy showed her independent personality, which was something I found respectable.

I definitely didn't get into her good side at the end. But I wasn't living to please others anyway.

When I returned to the party hall, the first thing I saw was my parents walking towards me. My mother had her usual enthusiastic grin on and I knew what that meant.

She was going to introduce me to some girl again.

" _When will this end?"_

"Sasuke, there's a really beautiful girl I want you to meet! You'll definitely like her!" My mother grabbed onto my hand and started pulling me to the other side of the spacious hall. My father followed closely behind, appearing much calmer than my overexcited mother.

"I can walk on my own." I released my hand from my mother's grip and groaned as I followed her. She wasn't going to let me go so might as well get things over with. I would just properly introduce myself and I would just tell my mother I wasn't interested afterwards. That was what I usually do anyway.

But there was a change of plans when I saw who my mother was planning to introduce me to.

"Haruno Heika and Kogo Heika, this is my youngest son, Sasuke."

I properly greeted the king and queen of the Haruno Kingdom and tried not to smirk at their stunned daughter. She looked like she had seen a weird animal or something like that.

"Oh my, you have such a dashing son!" The queen of the Haruno Kingdom was looking at me excitedly and she pushed her daughter gently towards me. Sakura was giving me more odd looks which was very amusing indeed.

"And this is our daughter, Sakura. I hope you'll get along well with her, Sasuke!"

This time, I smirked at Sakura who was starting to glare at me in annoyance. She was definitely unlike any other girls I was introduced to.

"I will definitely get along well with her."

Things were interesting for once and I must admit I was filled with anticipation.

Sakura Haruno was definitely not your typical princess.

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you guys liked chapter 1! Reviews are highly appreciated so please leave one on your way out! And if you show your support by following or adding this story as one of your favourites, it will make me beyond happy as well. I hope to see you in the next chapter! In the mean time, you might want to check out my other Naruto fanfic featuring Sasuke/Sakura, Neji/Tenten, Shikamaru/Ino and Kakashi/OC pairings! Oh, and if you're interested, go check out my one shot fanfic featuring Rock Lee. Thank you for reading!


	2. A Secret Mission

Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites! They mean so much to me. I promise I will update as fast as possible so I hope you'll continue supporting this fanfic. Enjoy chapter 2!

Chapter 2: A Secret Mission

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

After the party had ended, I informed my parents about the attack back at the garden. Our guests would be staying at the Haruno Castle for the night since it was already late. With so many important guests around, my parents knew it wasn't wise to cause a big commotion.

They discreetly headed to the tower where the enemy was interrogated and I followed them. When we had arrived, the guards had just finished the interrogation and were greeting us politely.

"Who are the attackers and what do they want?"

My father was usually a carefree person but when work was related, his tone was always stern and serious. Even as his daughter, I found it rather intimidating whenever he glared at the enemy.

"They said they're from the Sound Kingdom. They said they were ordered to terrorize the party guests."

I saw the confusion in my father's eyes upon hearing the guard's explanation. I was equally confused as well. Firstly, I had never heard anything about the Sound Kingdom. Second of all, why in the world would they want to terrorize the party guests?

"Where in the world is the Sound Kingdom? And what do they mean they were ordered to terrorize? What do they get from doing that?"

My father asked exactly what I was thinking of. The enemy's motive was vague and it brought up even more questions than answers.

"We tried to force the enemy to give us answers but they have none. Somehow, their leader had managed to erase their memory of the location of their country. And they were just following orders so they could only give us very limited information. All they know is that their leader wants the royal families to know of his existence. As for his real motives, even his subordinates are clueless."

"Who's their leader?" My father was getting impatient and I could understand why. This attack might have not caused serious injuries but from what the guard had told us, this wouldn't be the last time we would be attacked by the Sound Kingdom. With so little information, everything was so unclear and suspicious. Furthermore, someone with the ability to erase the memories of people was someone worth being worried about.

"A man by the name of Orochimaru."

"Who is that?" I voiced out my thoughts because I was honestly clueless. I had heard names of many villains who were causing troubles here and there. But Orochimaru was someone I had never heard of.

When I didn't hear any response from my father, I glanced over to him and was shocked at what I saw. My father had grown pale and he looked as if he had seen a ghost. His eyes were wide opened and he was completely stunned.

"Father?" I placed a hand on his shoulder and he jumped a little from the touch. I looked over to me as if he was snapped out of his deep thoughts.

I saw my father quickly regaining his composure and cleared his throat. I wanted to question his reaction but he left immediately, not giving me a chance to say anything. I caught a glimpse of my mother's face and saw that she was equally shocked. And not just that, fear was apparent in her eyes.

" _What is going on?"_

I was left without a word, confused and with unanswered questions.

* * *

 **Kizashi's POV**

" _Why did Orochimaru appear so suddenly?"_

Many years ago, even before Sakura was born, news about Orochimaru's betrayal towards the Konoha Kingdom had spread across the world. Orochimaru was one of the Three Legendary Swordsmen of Konoha, who were also known as the Sannin.

After his betrayal towards his own country, it was as if he had disappeared from the surface of this world. There were no news of his whereabouts and nobody knew what he had been doing. But one thing was for sure; he was up to no good.

Due to his disappearance, most of the younger ones had never heard about him. I had never told Sakura about him as well. We were hoping he would never resurface again. But I guessed our prayers weren't answered

He finally appeared after vanishing from the world for so long. Whatever he had been planning to do, it would bring nothing but trouble. Orochimaru was strong and highly skilled and we must never take him lightly.

We must do something immediately.

"Ask the king of each country to gather in the conference hall immediately."

The guards who were walking behind me quickly left to do as they were told. Mebuki walked over to me and placed a hand on my arm. I could sense her worries and fear as she spoke in a slightly trembling voice.

"Is everything going to be alright?"

"I really don't know."

If Orochimaru was involved, I couldn't be confident that everything was going to be fine. Nobody knew what was going on in that messed up mind of his. After all, he was known to be eccentric in a very bad way.

I headed towards the conference hall after I escorted Mebuki back to our room. I asked the guards who were with me to stay outside and make sure nobody besides the kings would enter the conference hall. The last thing we needed was rumors to spread, causing unnecessary commotions among people.

It didn't take long before all the kings were gathered inside the conference hall. They appeared to be confused over the sudden meeting being held and I couldn't blame them for that. But this meeting was urgently needed and we had no time to waste. Who knew what would happen next.

When everyone had taken their seats and the door was closed, I directly got to the main point of the meeting. If Orochimaru was involved, there was no time for formal greetings at all.

"Orochimaru is back."

With just three words, the atmosphere had become thick and there were tension among us. Confusion was replaced by fear and worries. Everyone in the room wanted answers and I hated the fact that I could give them so little.

"There was an attack earlier in the garden during the party. Fortunately, there weren't any major injuries caused. My guards interrogated the attackers and found out that they were here under the orders of their leader, who apparently is Orochimaru. However, the real motives of Orochimaru are unknown as of now. All his subordinates know was that their leader wanted his existence to be known by the royal families."

"We must act immediately. We must find out what his plans are."

It was Hiashi Hyuuga, king of the Hyuuga Kingdom, who reacted first. His usual calm eyes weren't present and he appeared to be as anxious as everyone in the room.

"The attackers said they came from the Sound Kingdom. However, I have never heard of this country before. If we want to find Orochimaru, what we need to do is to gather more information."

My response made some people groaned in frustration. We were lacking information which made us unable to come up with an effective plan. What could we do when we didn't even know where the enemy was?

"We need to inform this to the Konoha Kingdom. And perhaps we can obtain some information from them."

It was Fugaku Uchiha who came up with that suggestion. Konoha Kingdom was one of the five main Hidden Kingdoms. Other main Hidden Kingdoms were the Suna Kingdom, Kumo Kingdom, Kiri Kingdom and the Iwa Kingdom. These kingdoms were independent running countries, meaning to say that they weren't exactly connected to other kingdoms. They weren't enemies, of course. Let's just say that they were full of mysteries and didn't want other kingdoms to meddle in their businesses.

Even though I didn't really want to have anything to do with the Hidden Kingdoms, I couldn't think of a better plan than the one Fugaku suggested. We knew so little about the Hidden Kingdoms and wasn't even sure if they were willing to assist us.

"We need people to go to the Konoha Kingdom. But if we were the ones to go, it will attract too much attention. It is not wise to alarm the people regarding this."

Everyone in the room seemed to agree to what I had just said. Shikaku Nara, who was the king of the Nara Kingdom, seemed to be deep in thought before he thought of a plan.

"Why don't we have the younger ones to go to the Konoha Kingdom? When the public ask about it, we can tell them that they are sent to travel around to see the world outside their own country. It is won't raise suspicion and I believe that they can handle this mission."

"That's a great idea. Alright then, let's begin selecting people who are deemed suitable for this mission. We will then inform them about this immediately."

And with that said, selection of the best people to go on this mission began.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

It was weird for my father to suddenly disappear without saying a word. I saw a guard approaching him and he left with him afterwards. I was curious as to what he was up to but I knew better than to stalk my own father.

I was outside in one of the gardens with some of my friends. Shikamaru was taking a nap on a bench, looking completely exhausted after spending hours around Ino Yamanaka. He had been constantly mumbling about how troublesome she was for the past hour.

I wasn't so sure what Naruto, Kiba and Chouji were talking about but judging from the stupid looks on their faces, I assumed it was something unimportant. Lee was, as usual, asking Neji to spare with him. Neji looked disinterested but did so anyway. After all, Lee wouldn't stop giving speeches about youthful passions if Neji kept on declining his offer.

Shino was as still as a stone as he stared at the moon. I had no idea what was going on in that head of his.

As for me, I was sitting on a bench beside the one Shikamaru was on. I did nothing in particular, just relaxing under the moonlight and allowing the night breeze softly touching my skin.

Then all of a sudden, I felt the presence of more people coming towards our way. Shikamaru must have felt it as well since I saw him opening one of his eyes to see who it was.

I put my guard down when I saw that it was our fathers.

However, there was something unusual about them. They appeared to be troubled and uneasy.

Something was definitely going on. And something told me it had something to do with the attack earlier.

"Is something wrong?"

Shikamaru slowly got up and asked in his signature lazy tone. The others must have noticed the weird atmosphere around our fathers and stopped whatever they were doing.

It was Shikamaru's father, Shikaku Nara, who explained the situation to us.

My guess was right and it was indeed about the earlier attack at the garden. However, the attackers weren't able to provide us all the information we needed and the whole situation was very puzzling.

Throughout the explanation, I could see that each of us was getting even more confused. Not only were we unaware of our enemy's whereabouts, we didn't even know what he planned to do.

"What are we going to do when we are lacking in so many vital information?"

Shikamaru was wide awake by the time his father finished explaining what was going on. For a genius such as Shikamaru, he appeared to be as clueless as the rest of us. That showed how messed up the whole situation was.

"The most important thing to do now is to gather all the information we need. For us to do that, we need you guys to head over to the Konoha Kingdom, which is where Orochimaru originated from. However, we don't want the public to be aware of this to avoid unnecessary commotion."

"So, is this a secret mission?!" Naruto's rather inappropriate overexcited tone caught Shikaku off guard. From the corner of my eye, I saw Naruto's father, Minato Namikaze, sighing at his son's reaction.

"You can say that." It was my father who responded. He had always been a serious person but at that moment, he was in a different level of seriousness. That showed how important this mission was. "The twelve of you will leave at dawn so I suggest you all to rest right now."

"Twelve? There are only eight of us." It was Neji who spoke. I saw him recounting the number of people we had, just in case he made a mistake. Of course, he didn't.

"The girls are going too." Our eyes turned towards Minato when he answered. He had a small smile on his face, which somehow broke the tense atmosphere from earlier.

"Who?" Naruto asked while blinking in confusion.

"You'll see."

Minato's response didn't answer Naruto's question. But nobody tried asking again and headed back to their respective rooms. It was getting late and we had an early day ahead of us.

And I must say I had an idea as to who those girls were.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

I was hanging out with my friends in one of the dining halls when our fathers suddenly approached us.

Seeing the look on their faces, I had a clear idea as to what they were about to say. My friends, on the other hand, looked completely ignorant.

My father explained the whole situation as clearly as he could. However, it didn't prevent my friends from questioning the situation at hand. But when my father started talking about the mission given to us, different kind of questions was asked. And I could see our fathers sighing as my Ino began asking very unimportant things.

"Is Shikamaru going as well?!"

Inoichi sighed the loudest upon hearing his daughter's question. He nodded in response, making his daughter squeal in excitement. I saw Hinata blushing when it was mentioned that Naruto was going as well. As for Tenten, her earlier serious expression was replaced by a playful grin when she found out that Neji was going too.

I walked towards my father and whispered to him.

"Are you sure this mission will go well?"

"Of course." My father sounded confident as he answered. "The twelve of you are the most promising young fighters across the lands. I'm sure everything will go smoothly. Oh, Sasuke will be going as well."

"I don't care about him." I sounded more displeased than I had intended and I saw the disappointed frown on my father's face. I felt slightly guilty when I saw the look on my father's face but I really wasn't very interested to know about that person.

Well, slightly interested. But it didn't mean I liked him or something. Just that, I saw how well he fought and I honestly wanted to see it again.

"I'm sure you'll change your opinion about him after this mission."

I simply glared at my father, showing him that I didn't want to continue the conversation. All my father did was groaned in defeat before dropping the topic.

But I must say I was rather excited about the secret mission. For now, however, rest was what we needed.

* * *

As planned, the twelve of us gathered at the main gate of the Haruno Castle at dawn. The air was still slightly chilly but it was bearable. I was wearing the red uniform I would wear whenever I was asked to go on missions or errands. Of course, I didn't forget to bring along my sword, which was safely held by my leather scabbard. Like usual, I placed my sword at my side since I found it easier to draw it during a fight.

When I made eye contact with Sasuke, I narrowed my eyes in annoyance. He didn't do anything but it was that arrogant aura he was emitting. And the fact that he looked amazingly good looking had definitely boosted his ego. He was wearing a dark blue top which had the Uchiha Kingdom's symbol on its back and a pair of long black pants. His sword was slightly wider than mine and was held on his side as well.

Overall, although I hated to admit it, he looked gorgeous.

He was staring at me with a pair of blank eyes which had effortlessly annoyed me further. I continued glaring at him until Naruto approached me with his loud voice.

"Sakura!" Naruto was grinning at me as he placed his arm around my shoulder. Whenever he did that in the past, I would always punch him on the face. But after we became close friends, I stopped inflicting injuries on him for this friendly gesture.

When Naruto noticed that Sasuke was looking at our way, he decided to introduce us to each other. It wasn't necessary but I didn't bother stopping Naruto.

"You never met Sasuke, right?" Naruto dragged me nearer to Sasuke, without noticing that I was trying to resist. He had always been so oblivious regarding such things. "Sasuke, this is Sakura Haruno. And Sakura, this is Sasuke Uchiha. Since we're on this mission together, it's a good idea to get to know one another, right?"

It was rare for Naruto to be making sense. We weren't sure how long this mission would take. Even if we did reach Konoha Kingdom, we might not be able to gather enough information. The point of this mission was to obtain all needed information regarding Orochimaru and the Sound Kingdom. And we were not planning to return home without fulfilling our tasks.

And getting to know our companions was definitely necessary. There were some people whom I had never talked to before. It was comforting that I knew more than half of the people going on this mission though. I wasn't very close to all of them but at least I knew of their existence.

As for Sasuke Uchiha, I just knew him for less than a day and had already had a bad impression of him. So far, there were only two positive things I knew of him; his looks and fighting skills. He definitely needed to work on that attitude of his.

"I know her already."

"You do?" Naruto seemed surprised at Sasuke's words. I was surprised for another reason though. I just didn't expect him to speak. He just didn't look like the type who enjoyed talking, especially to someone as loud and annoying as Naruto.

How in the world did the two of them became friends in the first place? Their personalities were very contradicting.

"We're the ones who met the attackers last night. And our parents introduced us to each other."

"So it's the two of you who got attacked. No wonder those people didn't manage to get close to the party hall. The two of you could easily beat those people into pulps! Wait, why were the two of you together during the attack? And, hang on, did you just say that your parents introduced you two to each other?"

"We just happened to be at the same place during the attack. And yes, our parents introduced us to each other." I found it weird that Naruto would question the fact that we were introduced through our parents. I didn't see anything weird or wrong about that. Not that I liked the idea very much but I didn't see why Naruto would be interested on that.

Naruto, on the other hand, was not on the same page as me.

"Are the two of you getting engaged?!"

"What?" My voice trailed off at Naruto's sudden and ridiculous conclusion. How in the world did he end up thinking that way?!

"What in the world are you talking about, dope?" Sasuke's voice sounded dangerous as he glared at his blonde friend.

"Well, when a pair of parents introduces their children to each other during social gatherings, usually it's because they plan to have them engaged. Isn't that so?"

I joined Sasuke and glared at Naruto. I understood what Naruto was implying. My parents had been desperately trying to help me get myself a boyfriend and I knew what their intention was when they introduced Sasuke to me.

But that didn't mean I would do as they wished. Not after having such a bad impression on Sasuke Uchiha. He had godly looks and fights incredibly well, but I would not date someone whose personality needed a huge make over.

If I were to get myself a boyfriend, it would be with someone I loved. That was for sure.

Sasuke was glaring at Naruto as if he was the dumbest person alive as he spoke.

"Even if that was what they wanted, doesn't mean I must comply."

"That's right. As if I will do something against my will and get stuck with such an arrogant being for the rest of my life."

"Don't worry. I am not planning to be stuck with a fierce woman like you."

"I'm so glad you think that way. I am very relieved."

Naruto backed away slowly as Sasuke and I continued glaring into each other's eyes.

At least the two of us had one thing we agreed on; there was no chance of us getting together.

* * *

 **Naruto's POV**

The tension between Sasuke and Sakura was unbearable and I unconsciously stepped away from them.

A stubborn Sasuke Uchiha and scary Sakura Haruno wasn't a peaceful combination indeed.

But I could understand why their parents would want them to get married though. Both Sasuke and Sakura were highly recognized for their abilities, both in terms of fighting and being a leader. In the eyes of their parents, the two of them getting together would bring political benefits to both kingdoms.

Contrary to popular belief that I am too dumb to understand things such as politics, I am actually aware of them. However, as both Sasuke and Sakura's close friend, I wanted them to get together because they liked each other, not due to their parents' wants.

Even though they made a rather chaotic pairing, I honestly thought it could be interesting. Knowing the two of them so well, I believed that Sasuke could handle Sakura's ferocious personality while Sakura could definitely soften Sasuke's cold attitude.

But with their horrible first impressions of each other, was it even possible to make them like each other?

I was too engrossed in my own thoughts that I didn't notice Fugaku and Kizashi approaching me. I was snapped out of my own little world when Fugaku cleared his throat.

"Do you need something from me, Fugaku Heika and Kizashi Heika?"

The two of them gestured me away from my friends. When we were considerably far from the others, Fugaku was the first to speak.

"We have another secret mission for you, Naruto."

"A secret mission in a secret mission? That actually sounds really cool! What is it?"

Kizashi was the one who explained what they wanted from me.

"Well, Naruto, we're wondering if you can try bringing Sasuke and Sakura together during the mission. You know, let the two of them to get to know each other and let sparks fly between them."

"So basically, you want me to get them to like each other?"

Fugaku and Kizashi nodded at me with small smiles on their faces. As for me, I couldn't stop a frown from forming.

"Truth be told, this mission is more difficult than the actual secret mission. Did you see how those two looked at each other? I could describe it with one word; hatred."

"I'm sure things can change. Just like what the famous saying goes, the more you hate, the more you love."

I was really unsure about the quote Kizashi had mentioned. Even though I would like to see Sasuke and Sakura together, judging from their current relationship, I could not see a single hint of love.

Literally zero love.

However, ideas on playing pranks on Sasuke and Sakura to get them 'together' suddenly came running through my head in high speed. I was chuckling as I imagined the look on their faces when I successfully played tricks on them.

That was when I decided to accept the secret mission entrusted to me.

"Alright then, I will accept this mission. Leave it to me!"

Although I wasn't very confident that I could succeed, I was beyond excited to start my pranks. I would be risking my life though, because Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't let me go that easily.

But if I were to be able to have a whole lot of fun, it would be totally worth it.

And if I were really able to get Sasuke and Sakura to like each other, even though the chances are incredibly slim, risking my life would be even more worthwhile.

Sasuke and Sakura could thank me afterwards.

That could only be done if they had yet to kill me though.

* * *

Author's Note: So, what exactly does Naruto have in mind? Will Naruto make things worse instead? Or will Sasuke and Sakura start liking each other without Naruto's pranks? Find out in the next chapters! I'm sorry that there isn't much interaction between Sasuke and Sakura in this chapter. But this chapter is a very important part of this story. But I promise everyone that there would be a lot of Sasuke/Sakura moments in the next chapter (insert happy grin). Please leave a review! It will be very much appreciated (insert thumbs up). Thank you for reading and see you in chapter 3!


	3. Secret Identities

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites! Every single one of you are awesome (insert happy grin).

Chapter 3: Secret Identities

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

"Since this is a secret mission, will we get the chance to be in disguise?"

I groaned upon hearing Naruto's question. He was always getting exciting over the most unimportant things. It was Lee who had the patience to actually answer Naruto.

"We were told to not use our real names when we inquire about the enemy. However, there are bound to be a lot of people who recognizes us. So we were advised to enter kingdoms or villages besides our hometown and go undercover."

"I can't wait! I have always wanted to know how it feels like to be a spy."

Sometimes, I wondered how someone as foolish as Naruto could be such a skillful fighter. I had been thinking about it for the longest of time and had never managed to come up with an answer.

Seeing that it would be futile if I continued wrecking my brain for an conclusion, I chose to forget about it.

We were all on our horses as we rode through the Haruno Kingdom. A map which showed the way to the Konoha Kingdom was given to us and was in the hands of Shikamaru. We had been on the road for fifteen minutes; all the while he was fixated on the map.

Unusually, he appeared to be troubled.

"Is something wrong with the map, Shikamaru?" Neji seemed to have noticed the same thing as I did.

Shikamaru sighed and tossed the map towards Neji, who caught it easily with one hand.

"It's not really a big problem. I realized that to get to Konoha Kingdom, we need to pass through a lot of foreign kingdoms. The problem is that some of these kingdoms are not our allies."

"You mean we need to go through some enemy's territories?" I glanced over at the pink haired princess who spoke. From her posture and tone, one could easily notice that she was an experienced fighter. There was just something about her confident aura.

"It appears so." Neji answered as he analyzed the map. "An hour from here, we will be arriving at the Iburi Kingdom."

"I have never heard of the Iburi Kingdom." I heard Ino saying that and I wasn't surprised. Not a lot was known about the Iburi Kingdom, after all.

"The Iburi Kingdom has always been a mysterious kingdom. Some of our people had approached them previously to ask if they are interested in forming an alliance. But they rejected the offer without thinking twice." Shikamaru explained as he got the map back from Neji.

"Why are they so reluctant to be our allies?" I turned to Kiba who was riding beside me with his pet dog, Akamaru, placed in front of him. It was a well-known fact that Kiba wouldn't go anywhere without Akamaru.

"They never give a clear reason for that. That's why they're very suspicious. Before we left, my father told me that these kingdoms who refused to be our allies has one thing in common, which is the fact that they have history with Orochimaru in a way or another. They don't have much information about it but it's safe to assume that these kingdoms might have some useful information regarding our enemy." Shikamaru was silent for a few moments before speaking again. "However, it's not safe to reveal our identities once we step into the Iburi Kingdom. I don't think they'll be very happy to know that we are in their country if they know who we really are."

Everyone nodded at Shikamaru's suggestion and continued riding towards our destination.

I had to admit one thing, making Shikamaru the leader was a good decision.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

When we realized we were about to reach the Iburi Kingdom, we stopped by a tavern to discuss plans for our 'secret identities'.

Naruto insisted to have it be called that way. He kept on blabbering about how cool it sounded.

We all sat at the corner of the tavern, away from the other customers. It was still early in the morning so there weren't very many people. Who would want to drink alcohol when it wasn't even 8 AM yet?

"Anyone has any idea on our _secret identities_?"

Shikamaru emphasized Naruto's newest favorite term as if it was a joke, which somehow was.

Naruto, not to my surprise, stood up from his seat while raising his hand up excitedly.

Was it really a good idea to have Naruto on a secret mission that involved spy work? I really wasn't so sure about it.

"I have an idea!" Naruto's eyes were filled with anticipation and he continued revealing his marvelous plan when everyone's attention was on him.

"I was thinking that we should disguise ourselves as civilians when we are at the Iburi Kingdom. If we walk around with swords and looking intimidating, it will raise suspicion. Of course, it's impossible for us to not have our sword with us. So, I am thinking that we can hide it under our cloak or something like that."

I nodded at Naruto's idea. So far, it sounded like a rather good plan. People tend to put their guard down around harmless looking civilians. Perhaps Naruto wasn't as ignorant as he appeared to be.

"And the exciting part is choosing our own secret identity!" It was amazing how Naruto could instantly go back looking like a dense idiot after he had started elaborating on a good plan. "I actually have already thought of what secret identity to give each of us."

We stayed quiet as we watched Naruto going back to take his seat. Somehow, the mischievous look on his face was giving me a bad feeling.

"Obviously, Neji and Hinata can pull off as a pair of siblings. And since Kiba has Akamaru with him, he can pretend to be a vet. They will not suspect a vet now, will they? Chouji and I can act as gourmets and Shino will suit being a lonely traveler."

Naruto suddenly stopped talking and appeared to be in deep thoughts.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" I asked when Naruto was taking quite a long time to think.

"Do you think it's believable if Shikamaru and Ino will pretend to be a married couple?"

Ino immediately squealed when she heard Naruto's question. Shikamaru was sitting right beside her and she grabbed onto his arm. Shikamaru groaned in frustration and muttered the word 'troublesome'.

"I'm sure it's going to be very believable. Shikamaru doesn't have to act to pull off as a husband who is fed up with his troublesome wife."

Ino glared at Kiba who had just insulted her but quickly went back to hugging her annoyed 'husband'.

"That's settled then." Naruto was chuckling at the look on Shikamaru's face but stopped when our leader shot a glare at the loud blonde. Naruto cleared his throat before continuing. "Lee and Tenten can pretend to be athletes. There's not much acting to do there though since both of you are physically capable. So it should be easy. Alright, who else is there?"

Naruto's eyes glance at me and then towards Sasuke. He went back to his thinking face and it didn't take long before an evil grin surfaced.

That was a bad sign, a really bad sign.

"Sasuke and Sakura can definitely pull off being a couple."

"Are you serious?" I hissed and was scowling at Naruto. He didn't seem to be intimidated at all as he took a sip of water.

"What is the meaning of this, dope?" Sasuke was clearly as upset as I was. Nobody in their right mind would believe that Sasuke and I was a couple! Whenever we got close to each other, hatred began oozing out from ourselves.

It wasn't going to work out.

Naruto placed his glass of water back to the table before looking back at us.

"I thought the two of you are capable of doing many things. Can't do something as simple as acting?"

I tensed up at Naruto's words. He knew how much I hated it when someone looked down on me or doubted my abilities. He was doing it on purpose to make me agree to his idea!

Apparently, Sasuke equally hated the way Naruto was challenging us. And fortunately for Naruto, the two of us fell into his stupid trap.

"Fine."

Once we agreed, Naruto began smiling proudly, as if he had just unlocked some sort of achievement.

As for me, I had to constantly remind myself not to murder that blonde friend of mine.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

" _That dope has a death wish."_

I found myself cursing at Naruto ever since we had left the tavern. Shikamaru asked the bartender if he knew a place to stay in the Iburi Kingdom and we were recommended an inn. Shikamaru came back to tell us the name of the inn and a general idea as to where it was located.

Once we stepped inside the Iburi Kingdom, we would immediately start acting our respective identities. To avoid suspicion, we would go separate ways after we left the tavern.

Before leaving the tavern, we took out our cloaks to hide our swords. As we did so, Shikamaru gave us more instructions. We were to directly head towards the inn to put our things down before going around the place to seek information on our enemy.

Of course, we should pretend we don't know one another to make the whole act even more believable. We decided to discreetly pass notes to one another as our form of communication while we were in the Iburi Kingdom.

"We'll enter the country one at a time to avoid suspicion." With that said, Shikamaru left and rode towards the Iburi Kingdom with Ino beside him.

When it was mine and Sakura's turn to go, I noticed Sakura glaring at me like I was some sort of eyesore. Well, I probably was an eyesore for her but it wasn't as if I particularly liked the idea of being her 'boyfriend'.

Unfortunately, I couldn't think of a better idea than Naruto's so I had no other choice.

I glared back at Sakura when I had gotten on my horse. Our little glaring competition was interrupted by the person who caused us to be in our current situation.

"Sasuke, Sakura, you're supposed to be a couple, not arch enemies. I want to see chemistry between the two of you, not hostility!"

We stopped glaring at each other and glared at Naruto instead. Our stupid blonde friend took a step backwards at our response towards his words and decided to shut his mouth for the sake of his life.

And without another word, Sakura and I started riding towards our destination.

* * *

 **Naruto's POV**

" _I knew it, the secret mission Fugaku and Kizashi gave me will be the cause of my death."_

I was confident I could make Sasuke and Sakura agree to my idea if I questioned their abilities. That was what those two had in common. They absolutely hated it when people doubted their abilities.

Though I must say they could easily make people believe that they were a couple if they would just stop those fierce expressions from appearing on their faces.

They looked like a suitable couple, after all.

"Naruto."

I turned towards Neji who had just called out my name. He was shaking his head a little while smirking.

"I can see that you're trying to get Sasuke and Sakura together. I don't know why you're doing it but I must say you're asking for death by doing so."

I laughed in a carefree way at Neji's words. I agreed to what he had said and I knew how my second secret mission was more like a suicidal mission.

But I was starting to have fun and I wasn't planning to stop.

"Let's just see what will happen next."

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

"Hang on. Are we seriously sharing a room?"

I dropped my things onto the floor in an ungraceful way while Sasuke seemed to be very calm about the whole situation.

"We will most probably end up having to stay for the night in this country. So yes, as a _couple_ , we are going to share a room."

"Why can't we just sleep in separate rooms?!"

"And risk having our covers blown? And I thought you're smart, Sakura."

I frowned at Sasuke's words and grabbed my things to put them properly at the corner of the room. I hated how Sasuke made sense and I hated how I had just made myself appear like an idiot.

I should be more professional and shouldn't allow such things to hinder the success of our mission.

But the fact that there was only one queen sized bed in the room didn't help me calm down at all.

That was a problem I decided to think about at night. For the time being, I had work to do.

Once we had finished preparing ourselves, we left the inn to begin our search for information.

It was weird for a normal 'couple' to go up to people and ask about someone like Orochimaru. So we decided to stroll around the place and search for opportunities for us to ask about our enemy.

At first glance, the Iburi Kingdom seemed like any other countries I had seen. Civilians were just leading their own normal lives. There were stalls where people sold food, vegetables and other daily necessity. There weren't many tall buildings around, only some old-looking buildings which are slightly run down already.

However, when I paid closer attention, there was something odd in the atmosphere. It felt thick and uncomfortable for some unknown reasons. And the more I stayed among the civilians, the more I noticed the tension surrounding them.

"I don't know why, but this place is giving me the creeps." I whispered in a voice as low as possible but enough to be heard by Sasuke.

"This place is so lifeless. And some of the civilians look as if their energy has been sucked away from them."

I nodded slightly at what Sasuke had pointed out. The eyes of some of the people around us seemed so empty. They reminded me of zombies and I definitely did not like that thought of mine.

We passed by a café which looked much newer than the shops around it when we overheard an interesting conversation. It was originating from a table nearest to the door where three men were seated. They didn't appear to be ordinary civilians judging from their physique and uniform.

"I forgot the last time I relaxed with a cup of coffee. The king has been making us work so much!"

"There's no other choice. Orochimaru needs more of the goods lately."

"I wonder what he wants to do with so many of those stuffs."

"We'll never know. Only Gotta Heika gets to meet Orochimaru personally."

The conversation ended when one of them reminded the others that they needed to get back to work. Sasuke and I had been walking as slowly as we could and stopped when the four men had completely vanished from our sight.

"I wonder what they are referring to by 'goods'." I whispered as I stared at the direction the men walked to.

"I want to know as well." Sasuke glanced over at the café and thought of an idea. "Let's go into that café and see if we can ask someone who those men were."

I nodded and followed Sasuke into the café. There weren't many customers at that time and we chose to sit on the table beside the one the men occupied earlier. A waitress went to clear up that table before coming to us to take our order.

"Hello. I have never seen the two of you around. Are you tourists?" The waitress appeared to be in her early twenties and unlike a lot of the other civilians, she didn't resemble a zombie. At least she appeared to be alive.

I was startled when Sasuke wrapped his arm around my shoulder and smiled at me a little. His face was so close and it was undeniable that he looked absolutely handsome. I even noticed the slight blush on the waitress' face as she stared at the smiling Sasuke.

I tried my best not to blush too much since a 'girlfriend' shouldn't be so embarrassed when her 'boyfriend' pulled her closer to him. At least, that should be the case. I wasn't experienced enough to be sure.

"I'm here on a vacation with my girlfriend. We're staying here for a night before leaving for another country tomorrow."

Sasuke sounded so smooth as if he had done things like these before. It made me wonder if he had a lot of girlfriends previously to be able to sound so believable.

I widened my eyes slightly when I realized I had allowed my mind to wander to unnecessary thing.

" _Come on, Sakura. Get a hold of yourself. You don't want to lose to this guy now, do you?"_

I had to prove my worth by putting up an even better act.

I smiled sweetly as I nuzzled against Sasuke. From the look on the waitress' face, I assumed she had bought our act.

"The two of you are so sweet! I hope you'll have fun during your vacation."

Yes, I was definitely having a lot of _fun_ with my 'boyfriend'.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

It was obvious that Sakura was not planning to do worse than me in this undercover mission. She regained her composure and was acting flawlessly.

Sakura smiled at the waitress and started a conversation. It would be weird to suddenly ask about the men from earlier so it was wise of her to start some small talks.

"Is there any place you will recommend us to visit here?"

The waitress looked thoughtful for a while, as if Sakura had just asked a difficult question.

"To be honest, there aren't many places to visit in this kingdom. A lot of places have restricted entry."

"What sort of places are those?" I asked casually, not wanting to sound too eager.

"I'm not so sure myself. Those places are under the direct control of our king so normal civilians like us never asked about it. Only people working for the king know what is going on in there."

"Do you mean people like the men who had just left the café?" Sakura pointed towards the table where the men were seated earlier and the waitress nodded.

"That's right. People working for the king wears those brown uniforms those men were wearing. I have no idea what they do but I once heard it has something to do with mining."

I glanced over at Sakura and saw that her brows were furrowed in concentration. She must be trying to grasp the newest information we had just gathered. Although there were still a lot of unanswered questions, at least we found out about a thing or two.

I turned towards the waitress and gave a small smile. She didn't seem to know anything else anymore so might as well end our conversation.

"We'll have two cups of coffee and some sandwich. Thank you."

"Alright!"

After the waitress was gone, I removed my arm from Sakura's shoulder and rested my chin on my hand.

"What do you think the people are mining in this place?" Sakura said in a low voice as she stared at the table where the king's subordinates were seated.

"No idea. Let's walk later and try to locate the others. We'll decide what to do after that."

Sakura nodded slightly, just when the waitress came back with our orders.

Sakura smiled sweetly at the waitress in a trouble-free way. I looked at her as she engaged in another conversation with the waitress. It wasn't anything about our enemy, just casual talks about shops around the town and such.

The way she would giggle in the middle of the conversation made her look adorable. If someone were to see her looking like that, they wouldn't be able to imagine her as a fierce fighter.

It felt comforting to see her looking so relaxed to the point that I almost forgot it was just an act.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

After Sasuke and I left the café, we came across Shikamaru and Ino on the streets and Shikamaru slid a piece of paper to Sasuke. When nobody was looking, Sasuke took the paper out and opened it.

On the paper, Shikamaru wrote that he had found out what the king of the Iburi Kingdom had been doing. It appeared that the king had been mining some sort of gem for quite a long time already. He had sent Kiba to check out what sort of gem it was.

He ended the note by saying that we shouldn't engage in any sort of fight and would be leaving the country tomorrow at 6 AM. We were to meet at the lake which was located outside the borders of the Iburi Kingdom.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked Sasuke as he kept the note inside his pocket.

"We'll just walk around then."

I followed Sasuke as we walked through different routes. They weren't anything interesting along the way and I was just glancing around casually. I stopped in my track when a little girl came running towards us.

She was a cute little girl who looked like she was just six or seven years old. She was holding onto a basket filled with small teddy bears. I smiled at her as she beamed cheerfully at us.

"Good afternoon, Sir. Do you want to buy a doll for your beautiful girlfriend?"

I was startled at the little girl's words and was going to politely reject her offer on behalf of Sasuke. I didn't trust Sasuke to be capable of rejecting in a good way so I had to do it for him. As if Sasuke would agree to buy something for me.

"They're really cute. But I-"

"Sure."

I widened my eyes at Sasuke who was actually buying the doll from the little girl. The little girl thanked us before running away from where she came from.

To say I was surprised that Sasuke had just bought a teddy bear was definitely an understatement. Did he really buy a doll for me?

That seemed very unlikely. Perhaps he had bought it for himself. That sounded very odd but I couldn't think of another reason.

"Sasuke, I didn't know you like dolls."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at me as if I just said the most ridiculous thing he had heard that day.

"You thought I bought this doll for myself?"

I tried not to laugh at the thought of Sasuke being surrounded by a large number of cute dolls and nodded in response.

"You must be joking." Sasuke muttered the words under his breath. I knew it was almost impossible for Sasuke Uchiha to be a fan of teddy bears, but it seemed equally impossible for him to have bought that doll for me.

But then he proved me wrong by reaching out the doll towards me. I felt stupid for staring at him in silence but I just couldn't help myself.

I thought he hated me. Well, I didn't hate him. I never liked using the word 'hate'. It was a strong word, after all. I was just utterly pissed off by him most of the time.

"Did you just really buy me a gift?" My voice trailed off slightly, showing how I found the whole situation to be very unbelievable.

Sasuke smirked at my reaction and took a step towards me. He placed the teddy bear onto my hands. I looked at the soft doll on my hands and gave it a light squeeze before looking back at Sasuke.

He still had that smirk I had been seeing so often as he spoke in a teasing voice.

"Yes, I just bought a gift for my _girlfriend_. I thought she might need this doll to make her look cuter. After all, she tends to scowl too much."

I glared at my 'thoughtful' _boyfriend_ before walking away. I had mixed feelings as I held onto the brown teddy bear on my hands.

For a moment, I thought Sasuke Uchiha might be a nice person. And then the next instance, he returned being the annoying person he was.

I couldn't seem to begin to understand how that mind of his worked.

And I wasn't sure if I would ever know how.

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you like this chapter! The next chapter will feature Sasuke and Sakura's little 'alone' time in their room back in the inn. Please look forward to it! As usual, please leave a review. My readers' opinions mean a lot to me! Follows and favorites are very much appreciated as well. Thank you for reading and have a nice day!


	4. Unconscious Torment

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites! Really appreciate it a lot!

Chapter 4: Unconscious Torment

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

"I won't do anything to you, Haruno."

"I didn't say you will, Uchiha."

"Your face said it all."

After we had dinner, we decided to head back to our room to rest. It had been a long day and we would be having an early morning the next day. In all honesty, I was still hesitant about having to sleep on the same room as Sasuke.

Wait, we weren't just going to share a room. We were going to sleep on the same bed.

I tried to act as calm as I could. It was a mission and I should be more professional. Sasuke was right, we couldn't risk having our covers blown. Moreover, we were in an enemy's territory, it was safer to stick together.

But I just couldn't relax. And why must Sasuke be such a good observant and saw through me so easily?

"Sakura."

I jumped a little when I heard Sasuke calling my name. I turned my head over my shoulder to see him, who was leaning against the wall beside the door.

"If you're really uncomfortable about this, I'll go to another room."

Was he being considerate? I expected him to be pissed off and call me an amateur for getting worked up for something like that.

" _You're not going to screw things up, Sakura Haruno."_

"It's fine. I am not the type of person to allow such small matters to affect the success of a mission."

Who was I joking? My heart was thumping so loudly at the mere thought of having to sleep with Sasuke. And judging from the odd look he was giving me, he definitely knew I was lying.

But Sasuke didn't say anything afterwards and went to take a shower instead.

I slumped onto the queen sized bed and sighed in frustration. I played with the doll Sasuke bought for me as I scolded myself. I felt mentally weak and I hated it. It was a mission and nothing more. It wasn't like we were actually going to do something. Sasuke was a professional as well; he wouldn't do anything to me.

He might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but he wasn't a bad person. He was just simply an annoying brat. There was absolutely nothing to be worried about.

Anyway, if he did something inappropriate, I would beat the crap out of him.

See, there wasn't anything to be troubled about.

At times like these, why couldn't my emotions be logical for once?

"Sakura."

For the second time that night, Sasuke startled me with his voice. I snapped my head towards him, wanting to yell at him for surprising me again. But my voice was caught in my throat when I saw the state he was in.

A topless Sasuke stood in front of me while drying his hair with a towel.

I, Sakura Haruno, was going to sleep with a man whose body was absolutely perfect. And I wasn't exaggerating at all. One look at his torso and you would know it was a body of a fighter. His well-toned chest and abs clearly showed the result of his long-term training.

"You seem to be enjoying what you are looking at."

I was snapped out of my thoughts upon hearing Sasuke's confident tone. He was smirking and I swore I saw his ego boosting in front of me.

But his arrogant personality made him even more alluring.

I was beyond embarrassed for being caught gawking at him so I decided to hide it by showing anger instead. I grabbed onto a pillow and threw them towards Sasuke. He didn't even bother to dodge and that smug look was still on his face.

I didn't trust my voice to be capable of sounding intimidating so I shut my mouth and glared at him instead. I quickly kept the teddy bear in my bag and got my change of clothes before disappearing into the bathroom.

My flushed face was more exposed than I wanted it to be and I felt so ashamed.

I was definitely in dire need of a cold shower to cool myself down.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

When I said I would go to another room, it wasn't just because Sakura looked like she was going to faint from nervousness, but I wasn't so sure if I would be capable of controlling myself.

Even though I had always been serious during missions and wouldn't allow anything to distract me, I was still a human being with natural urges. And Sakura was a woman.

To be more precise, she was a very good looking woman.

But Sasuke Uchiha wasn't going to humiliate himself by showing such weakness during a mission. As if I would succumb to sexual urges and end up hurting a teammate.

The best thing to do was to sleep before Sakura finished showering. That way, I didn't have to look at her and end up allowing my mind to go towards the wrong direction.

I put on a white shirt and grabbed the pillow Sakura threw at me earlier. I placed it on the bed and laid my head onto it. I occupied the right side of the bed and was facing the wall. There were no chances for me to be tempted.

But the sound of the running shower was preventing me to drift off to sleep. My mind was having the most inappropriate thoughts and they just wouldn't go away.

" _You're an embarrassment, Sasuke Uchiha. You allowed something as insignificant as the sound of water to distract you."_

When I heard that Sakura had closed the shower and the door opened soon afterwards, I decided I would just pretend to have fallen asleep. It was the safest thing to do.

"He's asleep already." I heard Sakura mumbling softly to herself and I tried to be as still as possible. Her soft footsteps were heard as she walked to close the lights. I felt ridiculous for doing what I did. I was acting like a child who didn't want his parents to know that he was still wide awake.

I tried not to react when I felt another weight on the bed. I could sense warmth from Sakura as she pulled the blanket we shared. The bed wasn't very big so the gap between us was rather small.

It was going to be a long night for me. I wouldn't be getting any sleep if countless thoughts continued running around my head.

I was beginning to feel tired pretending to be asleep and I wasn't even sure how long I stayed that way. But when I heard Sakura's soft breathing, I knew she had fallen asleep. The tension from my body escaped and I slowly lost consciousness.

* * *

" _Something soft is touching my back. And something heavy is on top of my legs and torso. Am I dreaming?"_

I suddenly felt warm after a few hours of sleep and I was regaining consciousness. At first, I thought I was just dreaming but the heat against my skin was too real. I slowly opened my heavy eye lids to find out what was going on.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a hand on my chest. And it was definitely not my own hand. It was much smaller and it appeared to be too soft.

When I began registering what was the softness touching my back, I instantly understood the whole situation.

I could feel Sakura's breathe tickling my neck and her leg was on top of mine. Her chest moved as she breathed and I could feel something sharp poking me.

She wasn't wearing anything under her shirt. Perfect.

It wasn't long before heat began flowing towards places I wished it didn't. It felt like the room had turned into a sauna and sweat was running down my face. And every time Sakura moved in her sleep, I could feel more of her smooth skin against mine.

I was contemplating whether I should wake her up or suffer until it was time to get out of the bed. I could try to remove her from my body but if I accidentally woke her up, she might misunderstand and thought that I was taking advantage of her. I wasn't going to risk having to go through that. I carefully lifted my head to look at the clock on the wall.

It was 4.30 AM.

" _Come on. You're Sasuke Uchiha. Surely you could survive another thirty minutes."_

And it effortlessly became the longest thirty minutes in my life.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

"Wake up, Haruno. It's already 5 AM."

I woke up to the feeling of someone continuously hitting my hand. I groaned in annoyance and scolded the person disturbing my beauty sleep.

I didn't really know why but I felt so comfortable. Something warm was in my arms and my head was resting against a sturdy surface.

And whatever I was embracing, it had a really nice smell. Unusually, it almost smelled like a man.

Hang on, a man?

My eyes shot wide open upon realizing where I was. The first thing my eyes saw was the masculine back of a person with raven hair. And when I looked upwards, I was staring into a pair of dark eyes, which was filled with annoyance and a slight hint of exhaustion.

What had I done?

I yelped and quickly jumped off the bed. I was holding onto the blanket, as if I was trying to protect myself from further humiliation.

I stared at Sasuke as he furrowed his eyebrows. He was messaging his temples and was muttering something incoherent under his breath. I also noticed that he was covered in a thin layer of sweat, as if he had just returned from somewhere warm.

Fear began flowing throughout me as I prepared myself for the worst case scenario.

" _Please don't tell me I was hugging him for quite some time already."_

"Sasuke, I didn't do anything stupid, did I?"

My tone was timid and slightly trembling. The way Sasuke was trying to calm himself down wasn't a good sign at all. I was rather afraid to find out what I had actually done while I was asleep.

Sasuke glared at me with half opened eyes, looking as if he was energy deprived and opening his eyes widely was an impossible task. I gulped in nervousness as I waited for him to speak.

"If you consider moving in your sleep as something stupid, then yes."

Weariness was apparent in his voice and I felt guilty immediately. When I was younger and I would sometimes share a bed with my mother, she told me that I would move in my sleep once in a while. I thought I stopped doing that when I had grown up.

I guessed I was wrong.

"I'm so sorry!" I shouted my apology, slightly louder than I had intended. I continued apologizing until Sasuke held up his hand, which was his way of asking me to stop.

Then he suddenly turned his head away from me and there was silence between us. I just stood still, not knowing what was going on in that mind of his.

He seemed to be in deep thoughts and I knew better than to disturb him. I had caused him more than enough troubles.

"If you're really sorry, do me a favor and give me the blanket."

What?

I blinked several times while trying to understand what Sasuke meant. He looked like he had just come out from the oven so why would he need the blanket for.

"Why do you need the blanket for?"

Then the uncomfortable silence returned, causing the atmosphere in the room to become tense.

But seriously, why would a guy need a blanket if he was sweating from being hugged by a girl in her sleep? And why was Sasuke sitting in such an awkward position? He didn't look comfortable at all.

Then something clicked inside my head when I saw a glimpse of Sasuke's burning face.

He wasn't planning to use the blanket to keep himself warm. He wanted to use it to cover a part of him which was affected by the warmth.

Sakura Haruno had officially become the biggest idiot in history for not noticing that in the first place.

"I'm so sorry!"

And with that, I threw the blanket onto the bed and ran into the bathroom. I was glad my mind still remembered to quickly grab some clothes before I rushed into hiding.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

" _Can someone just take my life away?"_

I had experienced the most embarrassing moment in my entire life in front of the most attractive woman I had laid my eyes on. She would snap a nerve or two of mine once in a while but that didn't make her any less stunning.

It actually made her even more charming.

And I had ashamed myself in her presence.

We didn't speak or make any eye contact as we prepared to leave the inn and meet up with the others. Even though Sakura had showered, her face was still burning red. Unfortunately, the cold shower didn't help me much either.

The skies were still slightly dark when we left the inn. We took our horses from the inn's stable and rode in complete silence. I wasn't the talkative type and I enjoyed living in peace and quiet.

But I knew Sakura was different. She wasn't the kind of person to shut her mouth and not breathing out a single word. Since the time we had stepped into the Iburi Kingdom and we were left alone, she was constantly talking even though I wasn't very responsive.

She seemed to dislike silence.

But she was awfully quiet and I was starting to feel uncomfortable.

To think that there would come a day when I would feel uneasy due to silence.

I had never been so relief to caught sight of the loud and clumsy Naruto Uzumaki. He was waving at us when we were approaching the meeting point.

The silence was killing me and I couldn't believe that could even occur to me.

As we got closer to the others, I saw Naruto and Kiba smirking at me suspiciously. It didn't take much of my brain cells to figure out what was on their minds.

When I got off my horse, Naruto was already standing nearby, giving me his usual foolish grin. He looked more than ready to bombard me with questions I didn't wish to answer.

"Sasuke-teme, why do you appear so exhausted?"

"I didn't get enough sleep." Actually I did get enough hours of sleep, but the last thirty minutes in bed had taken away all the energy I had inside me. Self-control required more work than I had expected.

"What were you doing to not have enough sleep?" Kiba placed his arm around my shoulder and was chuckling as he asked.

"Nothing."

I would rather die than telling these two what I had gone through.

Just when Naruto was about to speak again, Shikamaru and the others had arrived.

"Good, everyone is here already. We're far enough from the Iburi Kingdom so let's have a quick discussion on the information we had gathered so far."

I slapped Kiba's arm away and walked towards Shikamaru. Naruto was giving me the 'we-will-continue-the-talk-later' look but I completely ignored him. There was no way I would willingly bring myself into that conversation.

Coincidentally, I ended up standing beside Sakura and I saw her blushing instantly. I tried to appear indifferent, not wanting to make the situation between us even more awkward than it already was.

I concluded that I rather have Sakura yelling at me instead of the way she looked like she could explode from embarrassment.

I pulled myself away from my own thoughts as I listened to the start of our discussion.

"I believed that most of us had found out that the king of the Iburi Kingdom had been mining gems for quite some time. I had sent Kiba to check out what sort of gem it is. What have you found out, Kiba?"

The earlier playful look on Kiba's face had vanished and was replaced by seriousness as he explained what he had found out. The reason why I could stand being around goofy people like Naruto and Kiba was the fact that they took their work seriously. And I respected people who wouldn't joke around when dealing with their mission.

"I managed to sneak into the mining area and caught sight of the gems they are mining. The gems were red in color and emit a rather unusual glow. I tried to eavesdrop on as much conversation as I could at the site and found out that these gems are capable of producing a special kind of energy."

"And Sasuke and I overheard some men saying that they were made to work more lately because Orochimaru needed more of these gems."

I glanced over at Sakura, who was no longer blushing like she was earlier. It was just like Sakura to not allow personal thoughts to distract her from working.

"Hinata and I heard someone saying that these gems are also mined in the Fuma Kingdom." Neji was folding his arms in front of his chest as he spoke. His eyebrows were furrowed and I had an idea as to what he was thinking of.

The Fuma Kingdom was not an ally.

Shikamaru took out the map and appeared thoughtful as he analyzed it. His eyes left the map when he appeared to have decided what our next move would be.

"We still don't know what these gems are used for and perhaps we can find some answers in the Fuma Kingdom. It is not wise to spend too much time in one place because it will definitely raise suspicion. We should always keep moving and not remain in a kingdom for too long."

Few of us nodded in agreement. After all, if any one of us was caught doing something suspicious, the rest of us would get into trouble as well. It was a smarter plan to always be in the move.

Staying for one night was probably the limit.

"This is all we have now. The Fuma Kingdom is approximately two hours away from here. Let's get going."

I walked over to my horse and was about to climb onto it when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned my head over my shoulder and saw that it was Sakura.

She seemed hesitant and there was a shade of pink coloring her cheeks. It was obvious what it was about but I waited patiently for her to speak.

"I'm sorry about what happened, Sasuke. I really am."

Sakura's words were sincere and I could see that she really felt sorry. I scratched the back of my head as I responded.

"It's fine. Don't worry so much about it."

It still felt slightly awkward but it was much better than earlier. If we gave ourselves some time, we would eventually break away the tension between us. I believed it wouldn't take long before Sakura started shouting at my face again.

Sakura nodded and gave me a small smile before climbing onto her horse. I did the same and began riding with the others.

When everyone had gotten onto their horses, Naruto spoke in his usual enthusiastic voice.

"I think the secret identities I gave everyone are perfect. We should just continue using them until the end of the mission!"

When nobody spoke to oppose Naruto's words, I knew it was a silent agreement.

And that meant it wouldn't be the last time I would be tormented by Sakura's 'sleep movements'.

Sasuke Uchiha, could you even survive until the very end?

I guessed only time could tell.

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you guys liked this chapter! As usual, please leave a review and share your opinions with me. Follows and favorites are highly appreciated as well! Thank you for reading and see you in the next chapter.


	5. Magic?

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites, everyone!

Chapter 5: Magic?

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

"I hate this place and I'm not even sure why."

Sakura was whispering as we walked through the streets of the Fuma Kingdom. I had an idea as to what Sakura meant. The atmosphere made me feel uneasy and the guards and civilians had been giving us odd looks.

Apparently, tourists weren't very welcomed.

When we reached an empty alley, we caught sight of Neji and Hinata who were heading towards us. Neji slipped a piece of paper into my hand and left immediately.

After confirming that there was nobody around, I opened the paper and read it with Sakura.

" _It is dangerous to stay in this place for long. There are guards all over the place. We just arrived but they are already keeping their eyes on us. Shikamaru decided to have us meet up in front of the forest outside the border at 3 PM. In the meantime, all of us should try to find out what the gems are for. Continue keeping a low profile and be careful."_

"Looks like we need to find the mining site and try to see what we can do."

I nodded at Sakura's suggestion and hid the paper into my pocket before starting to walk away. I glanced back at Sakura when I noticed that she wasn't following me.

"What's wrong?"

"Can we have lunch first?"

I didn't see a problem with that since it was still rather early. Going around with an empty stomach wasn't exactly ideal anyway.

We entered a decent looking restaurant and took our seats by the window. I allowed Sakura to order for me as I stared through the window. I noticed a group of men in light blue uniforms walking towards a hill at the west. Something told me that was the location of the mining site.

I took my eyes off the window when I heard the waitress coming back with the orders. I narrowed my eyes at the plate in front of me when I caught sight of the food I hated the most; carrots.

" _I'll just leave them aside."_

When I was done with my meal, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and began thinking of ways to sneak into the mining site. If we were to sneak in as workers, chances of us having to engage in fights would be at the minimum.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Sakura suddenly spoke.

"Not finishing your food is a bad habit, Sasuke."

I stared at Sakura, who was glaring at me with arms crossed in front of her as well.

"I hate carrots." I wasn't usually the type to waste food but my hatred towards carrots ran deep into my veins.

Sakura continued glaring at me as she used her fork to bring a carrot to my face. My nose wrinkled in displeasure at the apparent smell of the much dreaded orange food.

"I'm not eating it." I emphasized each word to show how serious I was.

Sakura pulled back her arm and sighed softly under her breath. Her earlier glare vanished and was replaced by a pair of glassy eyes.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I stared at the woman in front of me. What in the world was she planning to do?

"You're so mean, Sasuke. I'm trying to be a considerate girlfriend by watching out for your health. You don't have to be so fierce."

A tear was on the verge of falling as Sakura continued her little act. Her voice was slightly louder than necessary and I was sure she was trying to catch the attention of the people around us. I saw that the other customers inside the restaurants had their eyes on us as they whispered to their companions. Some of them were glaring at me as well.

" _Great. I am now labeled as a mean boyfriend who makes his girlfriend cry in public."_

The glares I was receiving made me feel frustrated and almost furious. I could just ignore them and walk away. But I know Sakura wasn't going to let me go that easily. She was definitely trying to drive me mad by making me the center of attention.

Her intelligence could be a curse for me.

I felt a nerve snapped inside my head when I caught a glimpse of Sakura's smirk. It soon disappeared and her little act was back in an instant. She reached out her fork to me again and looked at me with a pair of puppy eyes.

I swore I would find her adorable if she wasn't trying to feed me carrots.

I groaned in frustration before reluctantly opening my mouth to eat the carrot offered to me. When I chewed on the dreadful food inside my mouth, I felt an uncomfortable shiver running down my spine.

Sakura was smiling like a 'happy girlfriend' as she continued feeding me the rest of the carrots. It took every fragment of self control I had inside me to not puke due to the horrible taste inside my mouth.

" _One day, I will make her pay for this."_

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

"Sasuke, your eyes will be permanently damaged if you glare too much."

Sasuke and I were hiding behind a tree as we observed the entrance to the mining site. There weren't much activities going on, just some people going in and out once in a while.

And I just had to ask Sasuke to stop glaring at me because I couldn't suppress my laughter anymore. He looked so miserable when I fed him the carrots and I found it very amusing. He felt otherwise, of course.

"For the sake of the mission, I will let this go for now."

Sasuke said that before attacking a pair of workers who had just left the mining site and walked into the forest where we were at.

Sasuke easily knocked them unconscious and began taking off their uniforms.

"Are we going to sneak in as workers?" I asked and caught the uniform Sasuke threw at me.

"Hn. But there are security guards by the entrance so we need to sneak in from the back door."

I quickly changed into the uniform behind a tree and kept my clothes inside my bag. When Sasuke and I were ready, we head over to the opposite side of the main entrance. When we saw that nobody was around, we rushed through the back door without a second thought.

We were inside a stuffy and dark building, which appeared to be some sort of office. We calmly walked pass some people, who didn't seem to bother much about us. However, one of them did glanced back towards us and looked at me suspiciously.

"I think that person is suspecting us." I whispered to Sasuke in a slightly panicked tone. But I sighed in relief when I saw that man walking away without giving us another look.

"I think he just find your hair color weird."

I pinched Sasuke's arm and let go when he began wincing in pain. I had an urge to beat him into a pulp but the mission was more important.

We hid behind a wall when a door suddenly opened. We carefully took a peek and saw two men walking out from the room and looking rather pleased. Judging from what they were wearing, they weren't ordinary workers and were most probably supervisors or something.

We continued hiding when the two men began conversing in front of the closed door. We were rather far from them so we weren't able to hear them very clearly. But they were talking about some blueprints and even mentioned Orochimaru's name.

When we saw them walking away and there weren't anybody else around, the two of us approached the room the two men came out from. Sasuke cursed under his breath when he found out that the room was locked.

I took out a pin from my pocket and asked Sasuke to move aside. I once learned how to pick locks but never exactly did it during a mission. But giving it a try was better than kicking the door open and causing a commotion.

I smiled victoriously when I heard a click and I managed to open the door. I gave a smug smile to Sasuke before walking into the room. The room was dusty and the only source of light came from the small window near the ceiling. Sasuke and I began rummaging through the documents scattered around but tried not to make it obvious that someone had broken into the room.

"I think I found the blueprints they were talking about."

I walked over to Sasuke who was analyzing the contents of the scroll he found on the desk. When we confirmed that it was indeed a blueprint involving the use of the gems, Sasuke kept it inside his bag. We left the room and I locked it behind me.

"We'll look through the scroll later. For now, we need to get out of here."

Sasuke nodded in agreement and we carefully headed back to the door we entered from. When we reached the door, we heard a commotion at the direction where we came from. From the words we heard, we knew that the people inside the building had found out that the blueprint was stolen.

We ran off before we had to engage in any fights.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

There was still an hour before the meeting time but Sakura and I decided to head over there first. We changed back into our own clothes back in the forest before walking towards the meeting point.

We had gotten something of high importance and it was safer for us to leave the Fuma Kingdom immediately. We couldn't risk being found out by the guards or by anyone from the mining site.

When we reached the place where we were supposed to meet with the others, Sakura tied her horse securely onto one of the trees before slumping onto the grass. She let out a sigh as she leaned against the tree behind her. Now that we were quite far from the Fuma Kingdom, we were allowed to put our guards down a little.

I tied my horse onto a tree before joining Sakura on the grass. I felt the tension slowly leaving my body as I breathed in fresh air. The soft breeze touching my skin helped me from being drowned in exhaustion.

"Since there's nothing else to do, might as well open the scroll and analyze it."

I nodded at Sakura's words and reached for the scroll inside my bag. I laid it onto the grass in front of us and opened it. The more I read from the scroll, the more questions began arising inside my mind.

"What in the world?" Sakura voiced out her disbelief. "These gems contain magic and will be used to power a machine which will open a portal. Does magic really exists? And what sort of portal is this?"

I really wished I knew the answers to Sakura's question but I was as clueless as her. If magic really did existed, why didn't we know anything about it?

When there was no more information we could obtain from the scroll, I placed it back into my bag. Sakura went back to leaning against the tree with her arms crossed in front of her. She appeared to be wrecking her head for answers but I knew it was futile.

"There's nothing else we know so let's just wait for the others."

It was true that there wasn't much we could do so it was better for us to use the time to rest. Once everyone was gathered, we would be on the road again.

Sakura groaned in frustration before starting a rant.

"Whoever this Orochimaru is, he sure is causing a whole lot of trouble. I will be more than willing to beat the crap out of that guy. Maybe I should punch him in the gut and throw him hard against a metal wall."

I smirked at how fierce Sakura sounded. If a person was to see her when she wasn't pissed off, they wouldn't expect someone of such grace to actually have a rather violent side.

"Are you mocking me, Uchiha?!"

I made a mental note to myself to not get too distracted around Sakura. I didn't even notice that she was sitting in front of me with a ferocious glare on her face.

"I am not." I answered with a straight face, not wanting to get on her bad side. She wasn't in a very good mood to be teased.

"I saw you smirking at my words! Don't lie to me."

I rolled my eyes at Sakura and looked away. It was impossible to put sense into her mind so I decided to just ignore her.

But of course, she didn't want to be ignored.

She began punching my arms and it didn't take long before I could no longer ignore her. I grabbed onto her hands to stop her from hitting me. But when Sakura tried to pull her hands away from my grip, she exerted too much force and ended up losing her balance.

In reflex, she pulled onto my shirt as her back fell onto the grass. I managed to stop myself from crushing onto Sakura by putting my hands on either side of her face. She was still holding onto my shirt as she winced in pain.

I grunted in annoyance and was about to help her up when some of our teammates came back.

It was perfect timing indeed.

"It's still rather early for such activities, don't you think?"

I snapped my head towards the person who spoke and it was no other than Shikamaru. He was smirking at me and seemed to be very amused.

Before I could say anything, Sakura had pushed me away roughly and continued giving me deadly glares.

"Sakura, did Sasuke-teme tried to take advantage of you?!"

I felt like beating Naruto up for that messed up conclusion he came up with. Why did he assume that I was the bad guy?

"Shut up, dope. She was the one who pulled me down."

I stood up from the grass and brushed away the dirt on my pants. I glanced over to my side and saw a slight tint of redness on Sakura's cheeks.

"It's your fault!" Her earlier fierceness was replaced by embarrassment. I decided to drop the topic for now since we had issues that had to be discussed immediately.

Behind me, I heard Ino approaching Sakura while giggling. Her words made the pink haired woman flushed in an instant.

"I'm not surprised that you're the aggressive type, Sakura."

"Shut up, pig!"

I pretended that I didn't hear their little talk and walked towards Shikamaru. The others were beginning to arrive as well as I handed the scroll over to our leader. It was only Shino who had yet to appear.

Everyone was as surprised as Sakura and I when they saw the contents of the scroll. Just as I had expected, none of us were aware of the existence of magic.

"Is this for real?" Naruto was looking at the scroll as if it was the world's most absurd object.

Just then, Shino arrived and brought us a little gift.

"I managed to sneak into the mining site and stole a gem."

Shikamaru got the red gem from Shino and began inspecting it. Just like what Kiba had mentioned, it emitted a very unusual glow.

Shikamaru placed the gem into his bag and continued the discussion.

"Now that we stole a scroll and a gem from them, I'm sure they're beginning an investigation to see who the intruders are. I don't know whether they will track us or not but we need to increase our pace to stay safe."

"How much longer will it take before we reach the Konoha Kingdom?" Neji asked.

Shikamaru took out the map and look through it before answering.

"If we pass by the Hagoromo Kingdom and stay there for the night, we will most probably be able to reach the Konoha Kingdom by tomorrow afternoon. Fortunately, the Hagoromo Kingdom is an ally. We can relax for the time being. Let's get going before anyone from the Fuma Kingdom come to look for us. The Hagoromo Kingdom is about three hours from here. We can reach there just in time for dinner."

And with that, we began riding towards our next destination.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

We managed to reach the Hagoromo Kingdom safetly and just like what Shikamaru said, just in time for dinner.

After having our meal in a family restaurant, we headed towards an inn to rest for the night. The Konoha Kingdom was at least six hours away from the Hagoromo Kingdom so we planned to leave by 6 AM.

Some of the civilians recognized us and we were greeted warmly. We bowed back politely and engaged in several small talks. And just like how we were instructed, we told them that we were sent to travel and see the world outside our own countries. It was a relief that none of them suspected anything.

Once we arrived at the inn, I went to take a shower. It had been a long day and I was in dire need of a warm bath. I was going to share a room with Ino for the night and I was glad that I didn't have to be with Sasuke.

My ears would still burn in embarrassment whenever I thought of what I did while I was asleep. I told myself to stay composed and to not be too bothered by this though. We were still not sure when this mission would end and there was a high chance that we would be entering enemy territories again.

The next time I had to share a bed with him again, I would try to behave. But how was I supposed to control myself while I was asleep?

When the warm water wasn't helping me wash away my thoughts, I got out from the bathroom and decided to go back to my room to rest.

The inn only had shared bathrooms so I had to pass through several hallways before reaching my room. I spotted someone familiar when I passed by a garden.

It was Sasuke sitting on the bench outside.

Curious as to what he was up to, I went to take a seat beside him.

He glanced over to me and gave me a questioning look.

"What do you want?"

I growled under my breath as I glared at him.

"I just want to see if there's anything bothering you. So much for being concerned!"

That was one of my reasons. And the other reason would be curiosity. After spending time with him, I had concluded that he was someone who was difficult to read. He didn't have many expressions shown on his face so most of the time, I couldn't guess what he had in mind.

And that made me even more curious as to what he was thinking of.

"I never expected there would be a day when you'll be concerned about me."

Sasuke smirked as he spoke and I hated myself for finding him absolutely good-looking. The moonlight shone onto his raven hair and handsome features, making him look as if he was giving off a soft glow. His mysterious dark eyes made him even more gorgeous.

Seriously, how was it possible for such an annoyance to be so attractive?

I stood up from my seat and walked away before he could see the blush slowly creeping onto my face. A shiver ran through my body when I felt his hand grabbing onto my wrist. I snapped my face towards him but quickly looked away when I felt my face burning up.

"I hope you won't be missing me in your sleep tonight, Sakura."

I violently pulled my hand away from his grip and dashed off towards my room without looking back even once.

My face was burning red due to embarrassment and my whole body was heating up. But the weird thumping of my heart proved that I was feeling something more than just pure embarrassment.

But whatever it was, I had yet to understand it.

And I blamed Sasuke Uchiha for triggering whatever was surfacing inside me.

* * *

Author's Note: As usual, please leave a review on your way out! Your opinions are very valuable to me. Suggestions are welcomed as well. Of course, follows and favorites are highly appreciated! Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next chapter!


	6. The Konoha Kingdom

Author's Note: Thank you so much for the reviews, follows and favorites! I'm really glad that you like this AU fanfic, _Altair-Ezio-Two Assassins_ (insert ultra happy face).

Chapter 6: The Konoha Kingdom

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

"We're here!"

I sighed in relief when I heard Naruto announcing that we had reached the Konoha Kingdom. I wasn't really in my best condition and my whole body was starting to ache from all the horse riding. And I blamed Ino for my exhaustion and sleepiness.

When I returned to our room last night after my encounter with Sasuke, my face was still flushed. Ino, obviously, noticed how red my face was and asked me about it. I ignored her initially but if she dropped the topic, she wouldn't be called Ino Yamanaka.

So after a long period of forceful persuasion from my loud and annoying best friend, I finally gave in and told her what happened.

And, naturally, she just had to make a huge fuss out of it.

" _I think he's interested in you! This is great, Sakura. He might be the prince you have been waiting for!"_

Those were Ino's words from last night which stayed glued on my mind. No matter how much I wanted it to go away; it stubbornly remained in my thoughts.

As if that annoying and arrogant Sasuke Uchiha was the prince of my dream. He might be unbelievably good-looking, a skillful swordsman and there were times he was simply captivating, he just couldn't be _the one_.

Or could he?

I shook my head, attempting to get rid of the thought forcefully. I had more important things to do as of now.

There was a gate at the entrance to the Konoha Kingdom. Shikamaru was about to go nearer to inspect it but it opened on its own all of a sudden. Someone from the other side must have noticed our arrival.

When the gate was fully opened, we caught sight of two men standing behind it. One of them had a cloth over his nose while the other had long brown bangs covering one of his eyes. Both of them wore the same headband, which had a leaf symbol on it. They seemed nice but I could sense that they were putting their guards up. We were foreigners, after all.

"Who are you?" The man with long brown bangs said as he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. I guessed this kingdom rarely had tourists.

Shikamaru introduced himself and the rest of us one after the other. I saw that the man with a bandage over his nose seemed taken aback when he found out who we were. He cleared his throat before asking us a question.

"What have brought you here?"

"Recently, there was an attack in the Haruno Kingdom and we found out that Orochimaru is behind it. We are here to gather more information about him, whom we know originated from the Konoha Kingdom."

Upon hearing Shikamaru mentioning Orochimaru's name, the two guards stiffened immediately. They exchanged glances with each other before coming to a silent conclusion.

"I'll bring you to the queen." The man with long brown bangs said and got onto his horse. His partner stayed by the gate while we followed our escort to where the queen was.

I wondered what sort of person was the queen.

We passed by the town area and I was rather surprised to see how peaceful it was. The civilians seemed happy and some of them even smiled at us. To receive such pleasant greetings despite being foreigners warmed my heart.

The Konoha Kingdom was one of the main Hidden Kingdoms. We knew almost nothing about them and I expected the place to have a tense atmosphere. However, I somehow found myself liking the place even though I had just arrived.

When I caught sight of the castle on top of a hill, I gawked at how beautiful it was. Red and orange were the dominant colors, making the castle looking like it was covered in flame. And yet, it oddly gave off a soft and calming feeling. I also noticed a board with the kanji of 'fire' attached onto the top of the main building.

We were led into the castle, earning curious glances from the guards here and there. It was just harmless stares filled with curiosity though, so I wasn't very intimidated. I definitely liked this place better than those kingdoms affiliated with Orochimaru.

There was a sudden nervousness inside me when we reached a place where I assumed was where the queen was. Our escort knocked on the door and he opened it when a stern voice from the other side asked him to do so.

We entered a spacious hall which was elegantly decorated. I took a deep breath as I took in the sight in front of me. I stopped admiring the room when I noticed several people looking towards us.

There was a beautiful woman with blonde hair tied into two ponytails sitting on the throne at the end of the room. There were three men and two women standing beside her. All of them wore the same headbands as the two guards we met earlier.

One of the men had silver hair and most of his face was covered by a mask. The man beside him appeared to be more normal, with dark facial hair outlining his face. The last man, however, was really weird. His hairstyle looked like an upside down bowl and his grin was disturbing. He had a striking resemblance with Lee though.

My eyes widened a little in amazement when I made eye contact with the woman with red eyes. She was so beautiful! The other woman had short dark hair and was holding onto a tiny pig. What was she doing with a pig?

Our escort walked towards the queen and the rest of us waited by the door. None of us could hear the conversation happening on the other side of the hall but we could see the queen's horrified face when their conversation ended.

There were a few moments of silence before the queen spoke.

"Please enter."

We walked closer to the queen and bowed down politely. She looked even more beautiful up close and I could feel her intimidating aura. However, even though she had an apparent frown on her face, her eyes reflected kindness.

"Welcome to the Konoha Kingdom. I am the queen, Tsunade Senju. I heard from Izumo that you came to gather information about Orochimaru."

I sensed a mixture of anger and sadness when Tsunade said Orochimaru's name. Something told me that the two of them must be connected in a way.

"On behalf of Orochimaru, I apologize if he had caused any troubles. It is our fault to have allowed him to get away in the first place. Truth be told, we had been trying to track him down ever since he left the Konoha Kingdom. However, we failed to find him even though we had been doing so for many years. It was only recently that we heard rumors about him. But I didn't know he would be so bold as to attack another kingdom."

I saw Tsunade clenching her fists and she was glaring intensely. Shikamaru took out the scroll Sasuke and I got and the gem Shino managed to steal and walked towards Tsunade.

"We got these from the Fuma Kingdom, who is working for Orochimaru." Tsunade took the scroll from Shikamaru and inspected it. Her eyes shot wide opened in horror and her hands were slightly trembling. The man with silver hair took the gem from Shikamaru and looked at it with narrowed eyes. "Orochimaru is clearly planning something very dangerous. And we found out from one of the attackers that Orochimaru attacked the Haruno Kingdom in order to allow the royal families to know of his existence. It is safe to assume that our homelands are in danger from whatever he is planning to do."

Tsunade closed the scroll angrily and her eyebrows were furrowed deeply. She closed her eyes, as if trying to calm herself down.

Shikamaru spoke again when Tsunade didn't say anything.

"Knowing that our countries are in danger, we are ready to work with the Konoha Kingdom to find out what Orochimaru is up to. I understand that the Hidden Kingdoms has always kept a distance from other kingdoms besides fellow Hidden Kingdoms. However, this turned out to be something more severe than we had expected. We need to work together."

Tsuande opened her eyes slowly, and looked into Shikamaru's eyes. She remained silent for a few moments before a smile appeared on her face.

"I understand the severity of this situation. Konoha Kingdom is definitely more than willing to cooperate. And I am sure other Hidden Kingdoms would help out."

So far, the kingdom and people appeared to be so nice. I wondered why they had been so secretive all these times.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

"Do you have any idea where Orochimaru's hideout is?"

Shikamaru's question made Tsunade sigh in annoyance. Judging from the look on her face, they were still clueless as to where the exact location of his hideout was.

"Unfortunately, we still do not know where he is exactly. We have been working with the other Hidden Kingdoms to find out where he is. But the Suna Kingdom just sent me a letter saying that there have been suspicious activities going on just a few distances away from their borders. They suspect that it might be Orochimaru."

"Then we should head over to the Suna Kingdom!" Naruto blurted out, much louder than necessary. He had always been overenthusiastic but I couldn't believe he acted like that in front of a queen we had just met.

Tsunade appeared to be rather amused and was smiling at Naruto as she spoke.

"I'm glad to see how energized you are, Naruto. But Orochimaru is a dangerous person. I won't allow any of you to go unless I feel like you are ready for it."

Wait, did she say 'Naruto'?

"How do you know my name?" Naruto didn't bother hiding how surprised he was and was scratching his head in confusion.

"Although we are not actively interacting with other kingdoms besides the Hidden Kingdoms, as the queen, I should at least be able to recognize the members of the royal families."

She made sense in a way. And it wasn't like she was an enemy or something. We barely knew anything about the Hidden Kingdoms, so we ought to be putting our guards up. But somehow, I knew I could trust these people. Also, we had a common enemy; Orochimaru.

"You said that you won't let us go unless we are deemed ready. What are we supposed to do to be 'ready'?" Shikamaru inquired what I had in my mind.

"I am aware that all of you are highly skillful fighters. But Orochimaru is not your average villain. So before you will leave to wherever he is, you should undergo some training."

Before any of us could question what sort of training she was talking about, she continued speaking.

"But before that, you should rest. You have travelled for quite some time, after all. Please feel free to stay in the Konoha Castle during your stay here. I'll have Shizune bring you to your rooms. I'll have the chefs to prepare lunch as well. Please come back here in the evening to continue this discussion. For now, rest."

Tsunade had been speaking in a calm voice, but somehow, she had an 'I-don't-take-no-as-an-answer' tone. After bowing politely, we followed the woman holding onto a pig, whose name was Shizune.

She brought us to a hallway with many doors on both sides. There were more than enough rooms for each of us to get our own room.

"Feel free to stay in any of these rooms. I'll bring you to the dining hall after you have placed your things inside."

Shizune had a friendly smile on her face as she watched us choose our respective rooms. I chose the room closest to me and I was rather amazed at how spacious the room was. There weren't much furniture inside, just a bed in the middle of the room, a wardrobe, and a desk. There was a window on the far end and the curtains were moving due to the wind outside.

I placed my things on top of the bed before leaving the room to gather with the others.

After lunch, all of us went back to our rooms to rest. I heard some of my teammates saying that they needed a quick nap. There was still an hour before our meeting with Tsunade and I decided to just relax in my room.

I was on my bed with my eyes closed, trying to allow my exhaustion to evaporate from my body. When I felt myself on the verge of falling asleep, the door suddenly opened. I opened my eyes in surprise and glanced over to where the door was.

A girl with pink hair had closed the door behind her. She was sighing as she walked towards the bed with her eyes closed. Her face reflected fatigue and weariness. She must be really tired if she had yet to realize my presence.

She literally screamed in my ear when she was halfway on the bed and finally felt the warmth of another person besides herself.

"What are you doing in my room, Uchiha?!"

Sakura was glaring at me as if I had committed some sort of crime. I rolled my eyes before bringing sense into that messed up head of hers.

"This is my room."

I saw Sakura tensing at my words and she quickly scanned the room. A blush crept onto her face when she confirmed the truth behind what I told her.

I wasn't sure why I enjoyed looking at her flushed that way. Whenever her face turned red in embarrassment, I found it very entertaining to look at her. Her usual confident and elegant self became adorable and almost stupid whenever she blushed. It felt like I was discovering a different side of the hard headed Sakura Haruno. I guessed that was why I enjoyed teasing her, like the way I did back in the inn at the Hagoromo Kingdom.

And to be honest, I was interested in getting to know her. However, if you asked me why, I had no answers. I just wanted to do so.

Sakura was speechless and seemed to be deep in thoughts. She must be trying to think of a way to get out of the situation without humiliating herself.

But I decided to use the opportunity to tease her instead.

"If you miss sleeping with me, feel free to come over tonight."

The redness coloring Sakura's face deepened. But it wasn't only due to embarrassment. Anger was one of the causes behind her very flushed self.

"Shut your trap!" And when she had ran out of words to say, she hastily stormed out of the room.

Sakura Haruno was definitely the first person I knew who could still look attractive when she was consumed by anger.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

" _That annoying Uchiha keep on getting on my nerve!"_

Well, it was my fault for entering the wrong room. I was feeling way too tired and sleepy. But after what happened, I was wide awake due to embarrassment and annoyance. I was still exhausted though.

I managed to take a short nap before heading over to meeting with Tsunade. When we arrived at the hall, we saw that Tsunade was there with the same people from earlier. We walked towards the queen and greeted her. I began wondering how old the queen was but I pushed the thoughts aside when Tsunade started to talk.

"After discussing with my subordinates, I have decided to divide you into groups and assign a teacher to each group. Training will start tomorrow morning. Even though time is precious, I cannot risk having unprepared fighters to go anywhere near Orochimaru."

She turned her head over her shoulder and nodded at her subordinates.

"Neji Hyuuga, Tenten and Rock Lee, the three of you will train under Gai Maito."

The weird-looking man who wore green spandex stepped forward and grinned at his new students. I tried not to laugh when I saw Neji looking horrified as he stared at his new teacher.

"Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame, I am assigning Kurenai Yuhi as your teacher."

The beautiful woman with red eyes stepped forward and smiled pleasantly at her new students. Hinata, Kiba and Shino were obviously happy with their new teacher. Who wouldn't want to be taught by someone as friendly and stunning as her?

"Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Chouji Akimichi, you'll be training with Asuma Sarutobi."

Ino squeal when she heard that she would be in the same team as Shikamaru. She excitedly held onto his arm, making our leader groaned in irritation. The man with facial hair laughed as he walked over to his screaming blonde student, who was clinging onto a very distressed prince.

Nervousness began to flow through my body when I realized there were only three of us left.

" _Don't tell me I'm going to be with him!"_

"Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, your teacher will be Kakashi Hatake."

" _Oh, perfect. I am stuck with a loud idiot and an annoying know-all. And I don't even know how my teacher looks like with that mask of his."_

The man with silver hair walked over to us and I could see the outline of a smile underneath his mask. Even though I could barely see his face, I had a feeling that he was a good-looking person. It must be my woman intuition telling me that. I wondered why he would cover up his face like that.

"I am Kakashi Hatake, a pleasure to meet you."

Even though I was stuck with Naruto and Sasuke, something told me it was going to be a great experience.

At least, I hoped it would be.

* * *

 **Naruto's POV**

" _To be teammates with both Sasuke and Sakura is such a great coincidence. I'm sure I'll get a whole lot of opportunities to bring them together!"_

The skies had grown dark and I was sitting on a bench in the garden. I needed some peace and quiet to think of a plan for my secret mission and I was getting bored of staying inside my room. That was why I ended up in the garden.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?"

I jumped out of the bench in shock when I heard another person's voice. I was too focused on wrecking my brain to come up with a plan that I didn't notice someone approaching me. I snapped my head towards the person who had scared the soul out of me.

My anger was replaced by joy when I saw who it was.

Standing in front of me was the perfect accomplice for my secret mission; Ino Yamanaka.

"Ino, you came at the perfect timing! I need your help!"

If anyone could be of help to me with this mission, it would definitely be the crafty Ino Yamanaka, who was also Sakura's best friend.

Two brains were definitely better than one.

* * *

Author's Note: If you're curious as to what sort of plan Naruto and Ino will come up with, please look forward to the next chapter! As usual, please leave a review on your way out. Tell me what you think of this fanfic and feel free to send suggestions as well. Follows and favorites are very much appreciated as well. Thank you for reading and see you in the next chapter!


	7. Care and Concern

Author's Note: Thanks for the follows and favorites, everyone! I will appreciate your continuous support.

Chapter 7: Care and Concern

* * *

 **Naruto's POV**

"Ino, that plan is going to have us both killed."

Ino rolled her eyes and placed her hands on either side of her hip. I was beginning to doubt if it was a good idea to pull Ino into this. She could get a little bit extreme sometimes.

"This plan is perfect! It'll get the work done in the shortest period of time." Ino spoke with intense confidence and it made my eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

"Let me remind you once again, Ino. I'm trying to get those two together, not getting Sakura pregnant!"

"What are you talking about, Naruto? Sakura is my best friend. Of course I don't want her to get pregnant!"

"But you're plotting a way to get them to do _that_!"

"There's something called protection, Naruto. I'm just saying in case you have forgotten about its existence."

I was about to yell at Ino for her absolutely messed up plan when Shikamaru suddenly interrupted our conversation.

"Why in the world are the two of you shouting at each other's face?"

Ino's earlier frown vanished when she laid eyes on her 'prince charming'. I shook my head and sighed as I watched Ino grabbing onto Shikamaru's arm.

The blonde woman finally stopped flirting when I cleared my throat to gain her attention. I gave Ino a look, which silently told her that we still had an issue at hand.

She narrowed her eyes at me before letting go of Shikamaru's arm. She appeared to be deep in thought before snapping her head towards Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru is a genius! Maybe he can help us think of a plan."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow in confusion, not understanding what we were talking about. Before he could question us, I gave him a brief explanation.

"We're trying to think of a plan to get Sasuke and Sakura together. It's a secret mission given to me by Fugaku and Kizashi Heika."

"So, you're basically thinking of a way to get killed?"

Ino and I laughed at the 'accuracy' of Shikamaru's words, making him even more confused than he already was. Even the genius saw it as a suicidal act.

"Come on, Shikamaru. It will be fun! Those two are so stubborn and what they needed is a _little_ push."

Ino had a sarcastic tone at the end of her words. All of us knew they needed more than just a simple push.

"If Sasuke or Sakura found out about this, the two of you are as good as dead."

Ino wrapped her arm around Shikamaru's shoulder and laughed upon hearing his words. She then leaned towards him and said something into his ear.

"If they found out, we can just put the blame onto Naruto."

"Hey!" I glared at Ino who didn't even bother to whisper such mean words. Our brief bickering was stopped when Shikamaru suddenly snapped his fingers to get our attention. He was in full cooperative mode all of a sudden. I guessed he must have realized how entertaining it would be to join our secret mission.

"I have a plan."

If it was a plan formulated by the genius, it should work right?

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

"He's late!"

I groaned at the loudness of Naruto's voice. But I couldn't blame him for feeling irritated.

We were told by Kakashi-sensei to gather in one of the training grounds at 6 AM in the morning. It was a miracle that Naruto didn't oversleep. I saw it as a good sign.

That was until an hour had passed by and our silver haired teacher was nowhere to be seen.

When I could no longer stand Naruto's constant complaining, I smacked his head from behind. Sakura must have felt equally irritated because she sent a punch flying onto Naruto's stomach.

Naruto began yelling at the two of us, calling us heartless and all that. Neither of us even bothered to respond though.

Our heads snapped towards the direction of the much awaited teacher when he casually spoke as if he had not made us wait for more than an hour under the blazing sun.

"You're filled with so much energy early in the morning, Naruto. That's good."

"Kakashi-sensei, we have been waiting for more than an hour! Where were you?!" Naruto's screams were giving me a headache and I had to remind him to stop being so loud.

Of course, he didn't listen.

"I'm sorry. You see, when I was on my way, I had to save a cat that got stuck on top of a tree."

"And it took you more than an hour?" Sakura narrowed her eyes at Kakashi-sensei suspiciously. Sakura was a smart person, after all, she easily saw through Kakashi-sensei's lie.

"A cat is a delicate animal, Sakura. It must be handled with care. That's why it took more time than I thought it would."

It took every ounce of self control I had within me to not point out how ridiculous his excuse was. And I could see Sakura reaching her limit as well. Surprisingly, even the clueless Naruto noticed that our teacher was sprouting lies.

But all of us knew better than to make a big fuss out of it.

Kakashi-sensei had a smile under his mask as he took one step towards us.

"Let's start the training, shall we?"

" _He's really good."_

Despite his incapability to lie, Kakashi-sensei was an extremely skillful swordsman. The fact that I was barely keeping up with me had gotten to my nerve.

"I can't feel my legs!" Naruto exclaimed and fell onto the ground.

Sakura was panting hard as she slumped onto the grass underneath her. She ran her fingers through her hair and it was obvious that she felt frustrated as well.

And here we thought that we were among the best. I hated to admit it, but Kakashi-sensei was in a whole different level.

" _Are there more people like him in the Konoha Kingdom?"_

"It seems that you guys still have a long way to go before you'll be ready."

I was snapped out of my thoughts upon hearing Kakashi-sensei's provocative words. Even though he was speaking the truth, it didn't fail to piss us off.

"I won't stop training until I'm ready to go!"

For once, I didn't mind Naruto's ear-piercing voice.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

"I can't feel my body."

I muttered to myself as I lay onto the grass, trying to catch my breath once again. Exhaustion had taken over me and my head was throbbing uncomfortably.

What I needed was a nice warm bath and perhaps a quick nap. But then, I was starving.

"Let's go have ramen! I saw a ramen place downtown that looks really good."

It was unbelievable that Naruto could still be so energetic after that dreadful training session.

"I think you're referring to Ichiraku. Anyway, we'll resume training tomorrow morning. Enjoy your dinner." Kakashi-sensei said before excusing himself. Somehow, seeing him unscratched and perfectly fine annoyed me.

"Can we do that after I go back for a shower?" I sat up slowly as I asked, trying to avoid a spinning head.

I looked at the skies and saw that it was getting darker. Did we actually skipped lunch and trained for hours?

It definitely didn't feel that long. I guessed we were all too engrossed in trying to improve ourselves.

"Sure. Meet me at Ichiraku after you're done showering!" Naruto jumped up and pulled me along. I groaned at the ache on my legs but allowed Naruto to drag me along anyway. I was so tired I might not mind if he offered to give me a piggyback ride.

On second thought, that didn't sound like a very good idea.

* * *

 **Naruto's POV**

"Will Sasuke die from this, Ino?"

"Don't be stupid, Naruto. I can assure you with my life that this won't kill Sasuke."

I quickly took a shower before sneaking out to find Ino. She was holding onto something important for the plan Shikamaru came up with.

"It's either you do according to what I say or you can use Ino's idea of getting Sakura pregnant."

"Shikamaru, like I had said countless times. I have no intention of causing Sakura to be pregnant. Add on _safety precaution_ and my plan will become flawless!"

"I'll stick with Shikamaru's idea."

" _I hope I still have my head on by the end of the night."_

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

"I came here earlier so I ordered for you guys!"

When I reached the ramen place Naruto was so excited about, he and Sakura were already there. I took my seat beside Sakura and started digging in.

Skipping lunch and going through training with Kakashi-sensei could definitely make a person extremely hungry.

Naruto was unusually quiet during dinner. It felt weird that Sakura did most of the talking and not the loud blonde. I glanced over to him suspiciously and I saw him fidgeting on his seat once in a while.

" _He's up to something."_

But before I could get anything out of him, he hastily got off from his seat and thought of a lame excuse to leave.

"I need to go, guys! I promised Shikamaru I will go for a night jog with him. I'll see you two tomorrow morning at the training ground!"

And he dashed off before any of us could say anything.

"What in the world was that about?" Sakura said as she took a sip of water. "And it is not possible for someone like Shikamaru to want to go on a night jog. And it's with Naruto no less."

"That dope is acting weird." I commented before finishing the glass of water on my hand. "Let's go back."

When Sakura and I were on our way back to the Konoha Castle, I started to feel certain discomfort. My body was hot to the touch and my head was spinning. My vision was getting blurry and standing straight was becoming an impossible task.

And the last thing I registered in my mind was the impact I felt when I fell onto the ground.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

"Sasuke, what's wrong?!"

I hurriedly reached down to check on the collapsed Sasuke. I flinched when I touched his burning skin. He was having a high fever and his body was covered by a layer of sweat.

I tried to wake him up by shaking his shoulders but it was futile. He was panting and sweating profusely.

Waves of worries flowed through me as I saw how much Sasuke was suffering. He seemed to be in so much pain and his face was deeply flushed.

But instead of staying there without doing anything, I helped Sasuke up and brought him to a nearby bench.

Sasuke was mumbling something incoherent as I laid him down on the bench. Judging from his condition, he was most probably semi-conscious.

I looked around and saw that we were in a deserted part of the kingdom. There weren't anyone around besides the two of us. I looked back at Sasuke and my heart skipped a beat when I saw him writhed about in pain.

"Hang in there, Sasuke! I'll go buy some medicines."

I ran towards the busier parts of the kingdom, hoping I could find the medicine I was looking for. It didn't feel right to leave Sasuke alone but I didn't have much of a choice. That was why I hastily looked through various shops, wanting to get what I needed as fast as I could.

My heart was thumping with great force as I ran back to where I had left Sasuke. I sighed in relief when I saw that he was still there. I quickly took out the medicine I bought and slowly sat Sasuke up. He was grunting as I moved him and I knew I was putting pressure on his weak body.

I gently leaned him against the back of the bench and placed the medicine inside his mouth. I took a bottle of water out and placed it against his lips. I tried to pour water into his mouth but ended up spilling it onto his shirt.

I quickly removed the bottle of water away from him and groaned in frustration. Sasuke must take that medicine in order for his fever to subside. If he didn't swallow the pill I had just gave him, his condition might get worse.

" _I don't have much of a choice, do I? Come on, Sakura. This is not the time to hesitate!"_

I took a gulp of water and looked intently at Sasuke. When I saw the way he was furrowing his eyebrows in pain, I knew I shouldn't waste anymore time.

I kneeled beside Sasuke and leaned in to pass the water through a kiss.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

When I began to slowly regain consciousness, the first thing I felt was something soft touching my lips. The warmth it gave me melted away part of the tension that was built inside me. Without knowing what it actually was, I enjoyed the feeling I got from it.

My eyelids felt heavy but I regained enough energy to open my eyes slowly. When my vision was becoming clearer, I was confused as to why the only thing I could see was pink hair.

That was when I realized what was going on.

I was frozen in shock and my eyes were wide open. I simply stayed still as water entered my mouth and a pill ran through my throat.

When Sakura pulled away from me, she opened her eyes and was immediately aware that I was already awake. She yelped and stepped backwards in a hurry. Her face turned bright read in an instant and she had a hand over her mouth.

It was as if my body was pinned down onto the bench and all I could manage was staring blankly at a flustered Sakura. That was also when I realized that she was drenched in sweat, as if she had just ran a marathon or something.

Then a thought came across my mind.

" _Did she run to downtown to buy medicine for me?"_

My mind was telling me that I should thank her but my heart was thumping like a wild animal. I could literally hear my heartbeat and I felt extremely embarrassed.

I wouldn't have expected that a single kiss could affect me that way.

Hang on; she was just making sure I took the medicine. Did that even count as a kiss?

The silence between us was killing me and I just couldn't believe there would come a day I would be bothered by quietness. Sakura seemed too preoccupied with her own thoughts and was openly avoiding eye contact with me.

I knew I had to say something to break the awkward tension. But I collapse back onto the bench when I tried to sit up straighter.

Sakura immediately kneeled beside me and pushed me back to rest. A deep shade of red was still coloring her face but she seemed to have momentarily forgotten about it. She was in complete 'doctor-mode' and was rummaging through a plastic bag beside her.

"Don't move. You're still very weak." Sakura placed a relief pad on my forehead and I flinched due to the sudden coldness on my heated skin.

"I feel like a kid with this thing on me." I complained and tried to remove it. But my hand was roughly slapped away by Sakura and she was glaring at me. She would've looked rather intimidating if it weren't for the state of her blushed cheeks.

"You're acting like a kid now. I told you to not move." Sakura then pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and began wiping away sweats that were on the verge of entering my eyes. Even though she had a small frown on her face, her actions were gentle and caring.

I stopped my protests and shifted a little to make myself more comfortable on the rather hard bench. I suddenly felt drowsy and my eyelids were heavy once again. My consciousness was drifting away from me.

But somehow, it was comforting to be able to feel Sakura's warmth.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

A small smile crossed my face when I saw that Sasuke was fast asleep. I was aware that the medicine I gave him would make him sleepy.

I gently carried Sasuke onto my back and placed his arms around my neck. I used both of my arms to support his legs as I started walking towards the castle.

Sasuke, not surprisingly, was very heavy. I was glad I had above average strength and could manage slow steps one at a time. The castle wasn't so far from where we were but it felt like an endless road.

"Why in the world did you get so sick all of a sudden?" I muttered to myself as I took a few more heavy steps.

I was starting to think that it might be due to exhaustion from our training with Kakashi-sensei. But then again, Sasuke wasn't that weak to end up so sick because of that.

Or maybe he caught a cold and it got out of hand because his body was still tired from the training. But it wasn't that chilly outdoors though.

I stopped wrecking my brain to figure out why Sasuke would fall so sick so suddenly and concentrated on making sure that Sasuke was securely held on my back.

I was never so glad to have caught sight of the castle's main gate. I asked two guards to help me carry Sasuke back to his room and I followed them closely behind. I quickly stretched my arms and legs as I watched the guards carefully carrying Sasuke.

I thanked the guards after they had rested Sasuke on his bed. I closed the door once they had left. I cracked my neck as I walked back to the sleeping Sasuke, who appeared to be in a much better condition already.

I grabbed onto the chair by the desk and placed it beside the bed. I sat on it and began massaging my sore arms.

" _Sasuke owes me big time."_

That was when I was reminded of our little _contact_ back at the bench. My face heated up right away and my heart was beating at a crazy speed again. I groaned and mentally scolded myself to be so easily affected by a simple act of kindness.

" _That does not count as your first kiss, Sakura. You did that to save his life."_

I desperately tried to convince myself that it was nothing more than an act to help a sick person. I knew I shouldn't be too bothered by it. But why was my heart so uncooperative and was thumbing like mad?

I pinched my cheek as an attempt to push those thoughts aside. I distracted myself by removing the relief pad from Sasuke's forehead and placed it on the night stand. I touched his skin to check his temperature and was glad that his fever was almost gone.

The color of his skin was returning as well and he seemed very content as he slept. His breathing was smooth and it almost looked like he had a tiny smile on his face. I found myself giggling as I stared at his peaceful expression, which was something I didn't get to see often when he was awake.

Even though Sasuke was feeling much better, there was something inside me that told me not to leave. So I listened to my instincts and accompanied Sasuke for the rest of the night.

Exhaustion must have consumed my entire being and it wasn't long before I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **Naruto's POV**

"Your plan worked perfectly, Shikamaru. You flawlessly predicted their every move. You're indeed a genius!"

Ino was pulling Shikamaru into a bear hug as she complimented him for his well-known brain cells.

I must say that Shikamaru's plan was indeed excellent. Being around Sakura for a very long time, Ino had a considerate amount of knowledge on the medical field. It was because of that, Shikamaru asked her to find something that could make Sasuke sick for a short period of time but it shouldn't be too much to be able to endanger his life.

I was in charge of spiking Sasuke's bowl of ramen and make sure he ate it. All that was left for me to do was to run off before Sasuke was affected by the drug.

After I had left Ichiraku, I met up with Shikamaru and Ino. The three of us watched Sasuke and Sakura from a safe distance.

"You should have thought of a better excuse to leave, Naruto. Shikamaru agreeing on going for a night jog with you was nearly impossible!"

I groaned at Ino's words and told her I didn't have any better ideas in mind. It was better than nothing. The topic was dropped and we went back to direct our focus on the hard-headed 'couple'.

Shikamaru had to place a hand over Ino's mouth when Sakura kissed Sasuke. She was about to scream for goodness sake.

Even though it wasn't a typical kiss, the three of us still saw it as a legit kiss anyway.

"The three of us should work together and come up with more plans!"

Shikamaru groaned in frustration upon hearing my words and muttered the word 'troublesome'. Ino and I ignored him though and took it as his way of saying he agreed to assist us.

"This is getting more entertaining by the second!" Ino exclaimed, making me laugh heartily in agreement.

Things were definitely becoming even more interesting.

* * *

Author's Note: As usual, please leave a review on your way out! Feel free to share with me your thoughts on this fanfic and suggestions are welcomed as well. Of course, follows and favorites are very much appreciated so keep those up as well! Thank you for reading and have a nice day!


	8. Worthwhile Training

Author's Note: I will be really happy if you will review and give me some feedback, so I will know which part needs improvement! But anyway, I really appreciate each follow and favorite. And I'm glad you are reading this fanfic up until this chapter!

Chapter 8: Worthwhile Training

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

" _There's something on my chest."_

I groaned when I felt my head throbbing once I woke up. I brought my hand to my temples, massaging it in an attempt to make my headache go away. My eyelids were heavier than usual and I almost had a difficult time opening them. Judging from the sunlight penetrating through my eyelids, I knew that it was already morning.

However, the weight on my chest was still a mystery.

After I finally managed to open my eyes, I allowed them to drift down to where the weight lies on. I was completely awake in an instant when I saw what it was. To be more exact, to see _who_ it was.

It was Sakura, who was sleeping soundly as if she had no worries or whatsoever.

The situation I found myself in brought heat onto my face and body. It reminded me that I fell sick last night.

" _Why in the world did I fall sick all of a sudden?"_

I pushed that thought aside for now and focused on the present instead. I was aware that we were most likely running late for training, hence, I needed to wake Sakura up.

But she looked worn out and was in a deep slumber. She must be tired from taking care of me last night.

" _Did she carry me from that bench all the way back to the castle?"_

A small smile creep onto my face at that thought and it quickly caught me off guard. There was an unfamiliar feeling inside of me and I couldn't begin to understand what it was. It was definitely something more than a feeling of gratefulness.

My smile returned to my face when I saw how calm Sakura appeared to be when she was asleep. It almost made me forgot that she could be a rather violent and bad-tempered woman.

" _Alright, I should seriously wake her up."_

I gently shook her shoulder while hoping that she wasn't a heavy sleeper. I sighed in relief when I saw her eyes slowly opening upon feeling the contact.

Sakura rested a hand on her forehead as she got up from where she had been laying her head on. She yawned and ran her hand through her messy pink hair. I could see that she was still feeling very sleepy and her eyes were on the verge of closing again.

That was until she finally saw where she was and who she was with.

Her face was a few centimeters away from mine when her eyes shot wide open. She was frozen still for a few moments before literally jumping out of her chair.

She stared at me with an incredibly flushed face and for once, I wasn't sure what I should do. Should I break the awkwardness with a mean joke or should I just shut up and wait for Sakura to say something?

Hold on, since when did I start thinking of what to do? I had never bothered to actually brainstorm on my next actions.

I closed my eyes for a few moments, trying to untangle my messed up thoughts. When I had finally made up my mind, I turned to Sakura, who seemed to have stopped freaking out that much.

"Thank you."

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

" _Did Sasuke just thank me?"_

I blinked my eyes repetitively, trying to confirm that I wasn't in a dream. I would never have expected someone like Sasuke Uchiha to be capable of thanking someone.

My earlier embarrassment and shock was gone after a simple word of gratitude. Before I knew it, I was smiling and was almost giggling at the face Sasuke was making. Thanking another person was definitely not something he did very often. He looked so awkward that I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"What's so funny?"

My soft giggles turned into loud laughter when Sasuke snapped at me. The tint of pink on his cheek didn't help make the whole situation less amusing.

I decided that it was best I stopped teasing him when he began sending deadly glares at me. I walked over to the window and realized that it was already pretty late. I turned around and saw that Sasuke was getting out of the bed.

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked as I walked over to Sasuke, who was stretching once he set foot onto the floor.

"I had a slight headache when I woke up but it's gone now. I guess I'm almost fully recovered."

"That's good to hear. I don't want you to faint in the middle of training. It's not easy taking care of you, you know."

I blushed at the thought of how I 'took care' of him last night.

" _I should stop thinking about that kiss. Wait, I shouldn't call it a kiss."_

Sasuke must have guessed what I had in mind and looked away, not wanting to make any eye contact. And for once, I was glad Sasuke decided to give one of his usual annoying comments to break the tension in the air.

"I thought you're a capable doctor, Sakura. Handling a person with a fever should be a simple task."

Rolling my eyes was all I could manage as I tried not to show that I was relieved he had saved us from a potential awkward situation. Without another word, I walked over to the door and Sasuke followed along. He opened the door for me and almost screamed when I saw who was on the other side.

It was Kakashi-sensei outside the room, appearing very amused at what he was seeing.

"The two of you weren't at the training grounds, so I decided to check if everything was alright."

I was completely speechless and I was hoping Sasuke would say something. When I glanced over to him, I could see that he had no intention of explaining things to Kakashi-sensei.

I glared at Sasuke, which was my way of telling him to say something. Of course, I was completely ignored.

I groaned before turning back to Kakashi-sensei, forcing a smile despite feeling frustrated at Sasuke's uncooperative attitude.

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, last night was pretty rough and we overslept."

I was confused as to why Sasuke was suddenly massaging his temples and there was a frown on his face.

" _Did I say something wrong?"_

"Young people such as you two sure like things _rough_. I completely understand though. I wonder why none of your friends complained about loud noises. It seems like you guys know how to keep your volume down. That's good to know."

After Kakashi-sensei finished talking, I finally understood what I have done. I shrieked before frantically trying to explain myself.

"You misunderstood what I meant, Kakashi-sensei! All I did was taking care of Sasuke because he was sick."

"Sasuke seems to have fully recovered already. You must have _taken very good care_ of him last night, Sakura."

Kakashi-sensei was definitely not listening to me.

I sighed in defeat while Sasuke acted as if none of this was of his concern. Kakashi-sensei was chuckling as he continued speaking.

"Anyway, Tsunade-sama has something important to announce so training will be stopped for the time being. So, head over to the main hall once you're prepared."

I rushed back to my room without making another eye contact with either Sasuke or Kakashi-sensei. I just had to escape that messed up situation.

Before I closed my room's door behind me, I heard Kakashi-sensei saying something to Sasuke. And I swore I almost fainted from embarrassment when I heard it.

"You know, Sasuke, you should be gentler with girls on the bed. Sakura have some serious _bed hair_."

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

"You're a genius, Haruno."

"It's your fault for not saying anything, Uchiha."

"Keeping my mouth shut is definitely better than causing a major misunderstanding."

Sakura and I were arguing while we waited for the others to arrive at the main hall. I still couldn't believe Sakura said something so scandalous earlier. If I didn't rudely slam my room's door at Kakashi-sensei's face, he would most likely start giving me a bunch of advice on sex which I didn't want to hear.

The two of us stopped whispering to each other when Naruto entered the hall with his usual stupid grin on his face. And he just had to make my morning worse by opening that mouth of his.

"Sasuke, Sakura, I heard from Kakashi-sensei that the two of you were so _busy_ last night and ended up oversleeping."

Naruto didn't get to say another word because Sakura was laying several punches on him. She was obviously not going easy on that loud blonde.

Sakura stopped beating up Naruto when everyone else and Tsunade-sama had arrived. All the teachers were there as well.

"I gathered everyone so suddenly because I have just received another letter from the Suna Kingdom. It is confirmed that Orochimaru is behind the suspicious activities that has been going on near their borders. It might also be where his hideout is. The king of the Suna Kingdom also said that there has been a rise in the number of activities and we might need to act as soon as possible." Tsunade turned towards her subordinates before asking them about our progress. "Will they be ready to go in three days?"

Our teachers nodded in confidence and it was the man with bushy eye brows who spoke up.

"They are filled with intense youthful passion, Tsunade-sama. Fret not, they will be well and ready in three days!"

I was cringing when Gai-sensei showed off a very sparkly grin. He looked even more ridiculous than Naruto. And that green spandex of his was an eyesore.

"That's good to hear. Go back to your training at once."

"Here comes another day of Kakashi-sensei's hellish training." Naruto mumbled more to himself but I heard him nevertheless.

I was actually looking forward to it.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

"Stop moving, Naruto!"

"But it hurts so much, Sakura!"

"If you move another inch, I will completely break your leg."

"You're so mean."

After training for several hours, Naruto had sprained his ankle due to his own carelessness. Luckily for him, I had brought along medicines, bandages and other common medical stuffs. I asked Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke to resume training as I tended to Naruto's injury.

Apparently, Sasuke had been unusually enthusiastic and it was definitely a rare sight. It was pretty obvious that he enjoyed training with Kakashi-sensei.

It showed how much he respected Kakashi-sensei and wanted to learn from him.

My attention went back to Naruto when he screamed in pain. I sighed in frustration as I bandaged his left ankle, all the while scolding him for his own carelessness.

"If you're not so clumsy, you wouldn't end up yelling in pain like this."

I stood up from the ground once I was done with bandaging and shook my head in disapproval. Even though it wasn't a major injury, he was unable to train for the day and had to wait until tomorrow.

"Rest your ankle for now and continue training tomorrow morning."

Naruto was about to complain but I stopped him from doing so with a glare. He began grumbling as he headed over to rest under a nearby tree.

That should teach him not to be so reckless.

"It seems like you do have a great potential to be a great figure in the medical field."

I jumped in surprise when someone suddenly spoke from behind me. I turned around and came face to face with Tsunade, who seemed impressed with what she had seen earlier. I was so focused on treating Naruto that I didn't notice someone else's presence behind me. I quickly regained my composure and greeted the queen politely.

She gave me a gentle smile before speaking again, "I believe that being able to heal the wounded is equally important as being able to fight. I am willing to teach you more about medicines and healing techniques before you leave for the Suna Kingdom. Are you interested, Sakura?"

"Of course, Tsunade Jooheika!"

Even though I didn't know much about Tsunade, Kakashi-sensei once mentioned that the queen was Konoha Kingdom's best doctor and her skills were highly recognized among the people of the Hidden Kingdoms. Although I had yet to spend much time in this mysterious land, I was aware of the extraordinary abilities the people possessed around here.

Just looking at how Sasuke was barely able to keep up with Kakashi-sensei was proof that people of the Konoha Kingdom weren't exactly normal.

"That's good to hear, Sakura. Well then, I'll tell Kakashi-sensei that from now on, you'll train directly under me."

It took all the self control I had to prevent myself from squealing like an over excited little girl. It still didn't stop me from appearing absolutely excited. I allowed myself to grin like an idiot as I watched Tsunade walked over to Kakashi-sensei to inform him of the new plan for my training regime.

" _This is definitely a once in a lifetime chance."_

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

In a blink of an eye, it was already the night before we needed to head over to the Suna Kingdom. It was decided that our teachers would be joining us on the mission. Tsunade also mentioned that there would be another person joining us but she had yet to mention who he was.

Well, whoever he was, if he was personally chosen by the queen, he must be a very skillful fighter.

And I must say, training with Kakashi-sensei for only several days was more fruitful than a year long of training on my own. He taught me new things and brought out some of my inner capabilities which I never even knew existed in the first place.

If there were more chances in the future, I would definitely want to train with him again.

During dinner that night, Tsunade announced that we would gather at the castle's gate at 6 AM the next morning. We were advised to have plenty of sleep because the journey to the Suna Kingdom would take several hours.

I decided to catch some fresh air before going back to my room after I was done with dinner. I walked to the garden to relax on the bench and was sort of surprised to see that someone had beaten me to it.

With just a glimpse of pink hair, I knew who it was.

Without saying a word, I silently sat beside Sakura, causing her to screech due to shock. I didn't respond coherently and was just staring back at her with an odd look on my face. All she did was rolling her eyes before leaning back onto the bench.

She was sighing more than usual and she was clearly exhausted. Her overall appearance showed that she had been working hard for the last few days. It was as if she didn't even bother to fix her hair.

"You look like you just wrestled with a lion."

My casual remark broke the silence and it was followed by a snicker from Sakura.

"Are you attempting to joke, Sasuke? If you do, let me just say you're terrible at being funny."

"Do I look like the type of person who jokes?"

Sakura actually gave my question some thoughts before deciding that I could never ever be a comedian no matter how hard I try. The topic was dropped soon afterwards and silence enveloped us once again.

"How's your training with Kakashi-sensei?"

Sakura's fatigued voice filled the air around us but I chose not to tell her how terrible she sounded

"It's fine. How about yours with Tsuande?"

"Extremely difficult and tiring but it was worthwhile."

Sakura began telling me about her training with the queen, who, not surprisingly, turned out to be tremendously strict. Just like what Sakura had expected, Tsunade was very knowledgeable about the medicines and had mastered unique healing techniques which Sakura had never encountered before.

It was just a short training but the result was apparent, which was the same thing I had said about training with Kakashi-sensei.

When Sakura had ran out of things to say, she practically forced me to tell her more about what I had been doing for the past few days. I was reluctant at first but decided to speak anyway. Sakura wasn't planning to shut up unless I agreed to it.

I was in the middle of talking about the stupid things Naruto did when I suddenly felt a thud on my shoulder. When I glanced over to my side, I saw that Sakura had fallen asleep.

Under normal circumstances, I would be pissed off because Sakura had fallen asleep while I was talking. But then again, Tsunade's training must have drained almost all her energy and it was obvious that she was very tired.

" _I guess it's my turn to carry her tonight."_

I spent a few moments under the moonlight before paying back the favor I owed Sakura.

* * *

Author's Note: Please leave a review on your way out and keep up with the follows and favorites! Thank you for reading and see you on the next chapter!


	9. Fluttering Emotions

Author's Note: Thanks a whole lot for the review, follows and favorites! And don't worry, _EternalCherryBlossoms_ , I will definitely add Itachi soon!

Chapter 9: Fluttering Emotions

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

"Did you take advantage of me last night, Sasuke?"

"I did not." I hissed out the words in annoyance as I glared at the pink haired woman in front of me. When I arrived at the castle's gate a few minutes before the appointed time, Sakura, Lee and Shino were already there. Sakura didn't waste a second and approached me with suspicion in her green eyes.

"Don't lie." Sakura took a step forward and stared deep into my eyes in an attempt to find a non-existing _truth_. All I did last night was carrying her to her bed and left immediately.

And perhaps I did stare at her for a very short while. It wasn't even anything indecent to begin with though.

"I'm not so despicable to take advantage of you while you're asleep. I'm not you, Sakura." I pushed away the images of Sakura sleeping soundly and looking absolutely peaceful and continued the almost pointless conversation with Sakura.

"What do you m-" Sakura abruptly stopped and blushed furiously when she finally understood what I was talking about. She seemed to be mentally scolding herself for almost forgetting what happened that night when we had no choice but to share a bed.

"You're a bastard, Sasuke." Sakura's tone came out dangerously despite the deep shade of red coloring her cheeks.

"And you're annoying." I retorted before the two of us ended up in a glaring competition.

"Oh my, it's only been a few days and the two of you are already bickering like a married couple."

A voice suddenly appeared behind me but I didn't have to turn around to find out who he was. On the other hand, Sakura was blinking in confusion as she stared at the man behind me.

I turned my head over my shoulder and glared at the person who intruded our conversation. Part of the anger was directed to his remark about Sakura and me.

"What in the world are you doing here, Itachi?"

"That's such a cold way to greet your older brother, Sasuke." Itachi faked a sad look, making me roll my eyes in annoyance.

Ignoring both my question and apparent irritated self, Itachi walked over to greet Sakura, whom he had already introduced himself to during the party back in the Haruno Kingdom.

"I hope my younger brother has not been mean to you. He barely smiles, lacks emotions and he offends people so much I have no idea how it's even possible."

I felt a strong urge to strangle Itachi to death but I said the next line instead, "Are you describing yourself, Itachi?"

Itachi ignored me once again and continued insulting me in front of Sakura. Was it really my brother's job to bring me down in front of a girl I care about?

Hang on, did I just say I _care_?

" _You're officially screwed up, Sasuke."_

"What are you doing here?" I repeated my question again, emphasizing each word to gain Itachi's attention.

Itachi was about to answer my question when Tsunade arrived along with the teachers. I looked around and saw that everyone else was already there as well.

"Who are you?" Tsunade approached Itachi, who in turn greeted her politely.

"I am Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older brother. I'm here by the order of my father to pass a message."

"What is it?" Tsunade must have sensed the seriousness behind my brother's voice and appeared alarmed in an instant.

"Unknown creatures have appeared at several kingdoms and are attacking innocent civilians. Fortunately, there are no fatalities as of now. But we are absolutely clueless as to what those creatures were. We have a strong feeling Orochimaru is behind the attacks though."

Itachi's explanation was something I definitely didn't expect. It proved just how little time we had left in our hands.

"What are these creatures you're speaking of?" Tsunade crossed her arms in front of her as she asked for more details from Itachi.

"We don't have much information about it. But I saw them with my own eyes and I must say they look a lot like snakes."

"This is definitely Orochimaru's doing. His obsession towards snakes isn't a secret." Tsunade turned towards the rest of us, eyebrows furrowed in anger. "Head off to the Suna Kingdom immediately. We're running out of time."

"I'm also asked to join everyone on this mission. It's a pleasure to be working with everyone." Itachi smiled as he announced his participation in the mission. Naturally, nobody had any objections with that. Even though it was the first time the people from the Konoha Kingdom had seen Itachi, one glance at him and you would know he was a capable person.

However, I hoped that brother of mine wouldn't bring me unnecessary troubles during the mission. Unfortunately, knowing him, he definitely wouldn't let me live in peace.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

"Are we almost there yet?" Naruto was practically dragging himself through the deserts. I understood why he looked so lifeless though.

We were warned that the Suna Kingdom was surrounded by deserts and the weather wasn't very ideal. But we didn't expect the heat to be _that_ unbearable.

"We'll probably reach in about two hours." Kakashi-sensei made two hours sounded like it was mere two minutes, making Naruto wail in despair.

Just then, something appeared out of nowhere and landed hard in front of us, blinding everyone with swirling sand. I managed to catch a glimpse of what seemed to be snakes in midst of the sands and knew we were under attack.

" _Dang, did Orochimaru find out we're going after him?"_

I drew my sword and was about to attack the enemy and I saw some others doing the same too. But before I could do anything, the snakes created a strong sandstorm, completely blinding us from everything including ourselves.

"If we get separated, find your own way to reach the Suna Kingdom as soon as you can!"

* * *

Those were the last words I heard from Kakashi-sensei before my consciousness was wiped away from me.

I woke up with a throbbing headache and a stinging pain on my forehead. I gently touched the source of my pain and found out that I had injured the right side of my forehead. I groaned upon seeing the blood on my hand and proceeded to slowly remove myself from the sands underneath me.

With half-opened eyelids, I dragged myself to lean against a nearby tree. I looked around and saw that I was in the middle of nowhere. All I could see was sand and only sand, with a few trees here and there. The trees were dried up though, giving off a rather depressing atmosphere.

Luckily for me, I still had my bag with me and I quickly took out bandages for the injury on my head. After resting for a while and the headache was almost gone, I slowly stood up to start looking for a way to the Suna Kingdom.

"How in the world am I supposed to find my way?" I grumbled in frustration as I walked aimlessly around, trying to find a clue as to where I was. I stopped on my tracks when I saw someone lying on the sand a bit further in front.

I rushed towards that person only to find that it was actually Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke, are you alright?" I shook his shoulder but it didn't wake him up. I carefully carried Sasuke on my back, sighing as I guessed how many more times I needed to do that. I spotted a cave nearby and decided to seek shelter in there.

Once I was away from the direct heated sunlight, I sat on the ground and placed Sasuke's head on my lap. I shifted him gently, trying to make him more comfortable.

I brushed his raven hair away from his face, trying to see if there were any injuries. I sighed in relief when I saw none. But then I noticed several cuts on his left arm and went to retrieve bandages from my bag for his wounds.

After I was done tending to his injuries, I leaned against the wall on my back as I stared at the man on my lap. If someone was to see how soundly he was sleeping at that moment, they wouldn't have expected he had just faced an attack.

I was so drawn by his peaceful form that I couldn't help it but caress his face, tracing his strong features. A blush crept onto my face when my finger came into contact with Sasuke's lips. I panicked immediately when he suddenly shifted in his sleep.

I hastily removed my hand and awkwardly hid it on my back, as if it held certain dark secrets I didn't want Sasuke to see. I forced myself to stop the heat radiating from my cheeks but my heart ended up beating rapidly instead.

I took in a sharp breath as I watched Sasuke slowly opening his heavy eyelids. Fortunately for me, by the time Sasuke fully regained his consciousness, I was no longer acting like I had just did something indecent.

I jumped a little when Sasuke looked into my eyes. But what surprised me more was what he did next. Without a word, Sasuke reached for the bandage I had on my forehead and gently stroked it.

"Does it hurt?"

My eyes widened a bit, not expecting Sasuke's first words to be a show of concern towards me. I smiled a little before answering, totally forgetting the panic I was in a few moments ago.

"I'm alright. Are you feeling better already?"

"My head feels heavy."

I placed a hand on Sasuke's head and massaged his temples, hoping it would ease his headache a little.

"Thanks, Sakura."

I swore my heart skipped a beat when I saw an almost unnoticeable smile on Sasuke's face.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

It felt so comfortable under Sakura's care. Her tender touches and caring words were warming and I got better soon enough.

I placed a hand over Sakura's, which was on top of my head. I wanted to tell her I was feeling much better already but my voice was ripped off from me upon the contact. Sakura's soft hand under my touch sent a shiver down my spine.

My whole body grew still and all I could manage was to stare into Sakura's eyes, which were filled with emotions I couldn't seem to make out. The heat between our hands intensified and the thumping of my heart grew louder by the second.

"I remembered asking everyone to find a way to reach the Suna Kingdom as soon as possible. Why are the two of you in here being intimate and all that?"

Sakura and I quickly let go of each other's hands when we heard Kakashi's voice coming from the entrance of the cave. I awkwardly sat up from Sakura's lap and turned away from where Kakashi-sensei was, hiding the much too obvious blush coloring my cheeks.

The tense silence was soon broken by the man who happened to be with Kakashi and it was a voice I was way too familiar with.

"I didn't know my younger brother is incapable of controlling himself."

I snapped my head towards Itachi, who appeared to be very amused with what he had just witnessed. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Sakura's face blushing furiously, which made my own face heat up all over again.

I stood up while trying to keep an indifferent face. I offered my left hand to help Sakura get up and that was when I realized the bandages on my arm. I thanked Sakura for treating my wound once she was already standing beside me.

Before I could end up staring, or almost gawking, at Sakura, I hurriedly took my bag and headed over to the entrance, walking pass both Kakashi and Itachi.

" _I'll prove to Itachi that I have a lot of self-control."_

But there was something about Sakura that seemed to be always pulling me into her. Before I knew it, I was even attracted to her violent tendency. And whenever she showed me so much care, I couldn't ignore the tingling feeling inside me.

Honestly, I doubt I had much self-control left inside me.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

" _What was all that about just now?"_

Not a single word was exchanged during that brief moment when our hands touched but I felt so much emotions flowing throughout me. There was something behind Sasuke's eyes that I couldn't quite understand.

But somehow, I just couldn't get enough of him.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I couldn't remember how I ended up in front of the main gate of the Suna Kingdom. I would still be in a daze if it weren't for Kakashi-sensei who announced our arrival.

"We're finally here. I hope the others found their way as well. All the teachers know how to get here. I just hope everyone is with at least one teacher."

"And now that it's highly possible Orochimaru already know about us tracking him down, it could be dangerous out there." I looked at the never-ending deserts and hoped everyone was alright.

"Let's enter first and check if the others have arrived." Kakashi suggested and walked towards the huge gates, which opened on its own when we were close enough.

Two guards whose heads were wrapped in bandages were behind the gates. They had forehead protectors around their heads, with what seemed like a time sand symbol on it.

They relaxed a little when they saw Kakashi-sensei, probably recognizing him as an ally due to the Konoha Kingdom head protector he wore. Kakashi-sensei walked towards the guards and the rest of us followed as well.

We were led by the guards to the castle and were told that everyone else were already there. The guards also said that some of them had minor injuries while Ino and Kiba were still unconscious.

Once we reached the castle, we went directly to where Ino and Kiba were to see if there was anything I could do. We entered a room where there were two beds with Ino and Kiba lying on either one of them. Asuma-sensei and Shikamaru were also there along with two medics.

Asuma-sensei walked over to us to brief us with the current situation while Shikamaru stayed by Ino's side. If Ino saw how worried he was, I was sure she would scream due to excessive joy.

"The others are with the king discussing about Orochimaru right now. Ino and Kiba were already unconscious when I found them together after the first attack. Judging from their injuries, we assumed they met the enemy for the second time after we got separated."

One of the medics attending on Kiba approached us and seemed distress, "We're not sure what's wrong with them and everything we have been doing isn't improving their condition."

"Let me see what I can do." When I got closer to Ino and Kiba, I saw that both of them had a similar wound on their right upper arm. However, it didn't seem like a normal cut and it looked almost as if it was glowing.

"I think I know what to do." I murmured to myself as I thought back to one of my training sessions with Tsunade-sama. She told me that Orochimaru fighting style often involved the use of poison. She informed me about some of the poisons Orochimaru made use the most and also the way to heal injuries caused by them.

It was during the trainings that I found out that Tsunade-sama and Orochimaru used to be close friends. That was why she was familiar with the way his mind worked. But it was because of that, she suffered a lot when he chose to betray the Konoha Kingdom.

I walked over to Shikamaru and placed a hand on his shoulder, assuring him that everything was going to be alright soon enough.

"Don't worry. The two of them will be fine."

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

We left the room to give more space to Sakura and the other medics. Shikamaru seemed reluctant to leave but complied at the end.

There was a strong and confident aura around Sakura, making her seem more admirable than she already was. It was obvious that Tsunade's training did nothing but good for her.

The guard led us to the main hall, where the others were with the king. Although I didn't show it, I was surprised when I saw the king.

He was very young, most probably around my age. His most unique feature was definitely the tattoo on his forehead, which was the kanji of 'love'. The dark rings around his eyes were rather unusual as well.

We made eye contact with each other when he noticed new presences in the room. And for once, I felt like I had found someone who was harder to read than me.

After some pleasant greetings and introduction, the young king, whose name was Gaara, briefly told us the progress of their discussion.

"We have found out the location of Orochimaru's hideout and we can set off once everyone is ready. After further analyzing the blueprint on that machine of his and the recent events, it's safe to assume that those snake-like creatures are created by that machine. However, we believe that he has yet to maximize its power. That is why we must head over to his hideout soon and stop him before things get any worse."

"Sakura is currently treating Ino and Kiba. It seems like their wounds aren't ordinary ones. We'll wait and see what he has to say about it." Shikamaru was in full professional mode which was completely different from his earlier worried self.

Gaara nodded and turned towards a man and woman standing beside him, "My older brother and sister, Kankuro and Temari, will assist you on this mission."

In the middle of the meeting, the door to the hall opened and everyone turned to see who it was. A small smile unconsciously appeared on my face when I saw Sakura standing by the door. From the confidence surrounding her, it was obvious she had successfully treated Ino and Kiba.

Sakura greeted Gaara and introduced herself before explaining to everyone Ino and Kiba's conditions, "Their wounds are infected by a type of poison which will knock them out of consciousness. And if they are not treated within a day, they will lose their life. Tsunade Jooheika knows about this poison and taught me how to create the antidote for it. Ino and Kiba are awake now and their other injuries aren't serious. They have confirmed that they were indeed attacked by those snakes after they got separated from the rest of us. Apparently, those creatures were the ones who had poisoned them."

"Those snakes are also capable of producing such a strong poison?" Naruto grumbled in disbelief, running his hands through his blonde hair in frustration.

Sakura frowned as she continued explaining the situation, "I will teach the Suna Kingdom's medics how to create the antidote, just in case someone else will get hurt from the same poison. It's better to be safe than sorry."

Itachi seemed to be in deep thoughts before he spoke, "I think we should inform other kingdoms about the antidote as well. We must act quickly before anyone will get hurt and get treated too late."

Gaara nodded in agreement as he took Itachi's word into serious consideration, "I will send my guards to send the information to other kingdoms."

Upon hearing Gaara's decision, Sakura left the hall and get to work with the other medics. I watched her leave until she was completely out of sight.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Itachi suddenly got closer to me and whispered something I wished he didn't.

"She's gone, Sasuke. Don't be such a creep, little brother."

It was times like those that I hoped Itachi knew how to keep his mouth shut.

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

"You seem to be in a very good mood, Ino."

"Is it that obvious, Sakura?"

Ino was completely healed but I knew the antidote wasn't the main reason for that. The _best_ antidote for Ino was a certain Shikamaru Nara.

After the meeting with Gaara ended, Shikamaru rushed to where Ino was immediately. He was totally out of character as he bombarded Ino with questions to make sure she was indeed alright already.

I saw how surprised Ino was to see a terribly worried Shikamaru. And probably for once in his entire life, he didn't say the word 'troublesome' in more than ten minutes of speaking.

"It feels nice to know that Shikamaru cares so much about me." Ino was living in her own world as I helped her change her bandages. Kiba was bored out of mind and was long gone from the room so it was just Ino and I inside.

"I care about you too. Do I mean nothing to you?" I faked a pained look and pretended to sob. Ino rolled her eyes at me and playfully flicked my forehead.

"You're such a drama queen, Sakura."

"Speak for yourself, Ino."

The two of us giggled as we spoke, enjoying the lightness in the air surrounding us. As I listened to Ino talking about how everything seemed like a dream come true for her, my mind began wandering around as well.

" _It definitely will feel nice to have someone caring for me as well."_

My hand froze when Sasuke suddenly crossed my mind. I blush furiously as images of him continued appearing in my head. At that time, I was glad Ino was too busy living her dream-like reality to notice how flushed I was.

* * *

The sun has already set when I left Ino's room. Shikamaru had came back to accompany her and being the considerate friend I was, I gave them some alone time.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't envious though. I sighed as I walked through the hallways, not really sure as to where to go.

I was staring on the floor and stopped on my tracks when I noticed someone else's shadow. I could sense that it wasn't an enemy so I casually looked up to see who it was.

But my heart began fluttering uncontrollably when I saw who it was.

It was Sasuke, who was leaning against the wall with arms crossed in front of him. When he glanced over at me, my heart began thumping even harder against my chest. The heat radiating from my face wasn't helping me calm down too.

" _What in the world is happening to you, Sakura?"_

"You have been working for hours. I assume you haven't eaten."

It was then when I heard my stomach grumble and my blush deepened due to embarrassment. I hid my face with an arm as I looked away from Sasuke.

"It's decided that we will leave tomorrow at dawn. For now, you should rest."

" _Is Sasuke showing care towards me?"_

I was beginning to understand how Ino felt, to be showered with care and concern. It was like I was pulled towards Sasuke, who looked absolutely mesmerising when basked in the soft moonlight shone onto him.

But when I heard what Sasuke said next, I actually thought I was going to burst from overexcitement and overflowing emotions.

"I'll take you out to dinner."

At that moment, it actually felt like there was hope that I could one day live in my own dream-like reality.

* * *

Author's Note: If you're curious about Sasuke and Sakura's little date, look forward to the next chapter! Please leave a review on your way out. Your opinions mean a lot to me! And reviews make me super duper happy. Do keep up with the follows and favourites as well, everyone. Thank you for reading!


	10. Falling Deep

Author's Note: Thanks a lot for pointing out my carelessness, _pinyacolada_! And thanks for the positive reviews. It means a lot to me, really! And to all followers and readers of this fanfic, I must apologize if I take a long time to update. Lessons have resumed and I just get busier and busier. I promise I will write whenever I'm free. Your continuous support and patience is highly appreciated. Thanks again!

Chapter 10: Falling Deep

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

One question lingered in my mind that night.

Could I consider it as a date?

As I walked alongside Sasuke through the Suna Kingdom, I kept on thinking of the most unimportant things. Well, if it were any other times, it would seem rather unimportant. But at that moment, it meant a whole lot to me.

It was because I had never been on a date before.

My loud thumping heart and messed up thoughts distracted me from walking right. I wasn't really looking straight and didn't realize I was going to bump into a stranger. I would have embarrassed myself if it wasn't for Sasuke who pulled me away just in time.

Sasuke's grip on my arm was strong and gentle at the same time. I found myself staring into his eyes but I just couldn't look away. My heart raced even more frantically when I saw Sasuke reaching out his hand towards my head.

"You don't look so good. Are you tired?"

The heat radiating from my face was starting to get out of control as Sasuke brushed my hair. I could see the concern behind his eyes and I wasn't sure if it was normal for me to feel touched by something as simple as that.

"I'm okay." My voice came out soft and I hoped Sasuke saw that as a result of exhaustion and not because I was totally mesmerized by him.

Sasuke gave me a questioning look, showing that he sensed I wasn't telling the entire truth. I quickly looked away and started walking to avoid having him realizing what was going on in my mind.

My heart continued fluttering throughout the whole walk and I would constantly steal glances of the man beside me. I noticed the tinniest things he did as we passed by people and shops under the night sky. I would unconsciously smile whenever I saw him make interesting expressions as he looked at things he deemed unusual.

That night, I was beginning to understand what it was like to be in love.

* * *

 **Sasuke's POV**

" _Am I creeping her out?"_

Sakura had been acting weird ever since I told her I was taking her out for dinner. She was unusually fidgety and had been very absent minded. Not only did she almost bump into a stranger, she almost hit herself towards the restaurant's door.

From how I saw it, Sakura didn't seem to like me _that_ way.

While she was busy earlier in the afternoon, I had all the time in the world to sort out my feelings for my pink haired companion. Even though I just met her, it felt like I had known her for a long time. It sounded ridiculous but it just felt like that.

Then I remembered one of the many times I argued with my parents about all those matchmaking sessions I dreaded a lot. My mother mentioned that it was possible to fall in love despite knowing each other for a short period of time.

Back then, I concluded that those words were one of the stupidest things I had ever heard. And now, it was a completely different story.

I had fallen in love with Sakura and I knew I could no longer lie to myself.

But to be honest, I had zero experience and had no idea what to do. And I was too prideful to seek help from the others. I didn't even want to imagine what it would be like if I were to ask for advice from the likes of Naruto, Shikamaru or Itachi.

Yes, I would rather depend on myself than getting humiliated by those people.

" _I'm completely clueless though. I'm not heading towards the wrong direction, am I?"_

I hated how incapable I was when it came to dealing with things involving relationships. The first half of the dinner was filled with nothing but silence between Sakura and I. It wasn't the awkward kind of silence though. Perhaps it was because the two of us were too busy with our own thoughts.

A part of me said that I should talk to someone soon even though I was dead against the idea. Judging from the progress I was making, I really didn't have much of a choice.

I groaned against my will when I could imagine Itachi looking smug while calling me an 'inexperienced idiot'.

"What's wrong?"

I mentally cursed at myself for allowing Sakura to hear signs of my frustrations. There was a worried look on her face and I could see that she thought she was the reason behind my annoyance.

"It's nothing. I suddenly thought of one of the countless times Itachi annoyed me to no end."

I took a sip of water as I hoped my sorry excuse sounded believable at least. It wasn't completely a lie to begin with. I was relieved when I heard Sakura giggling and I must say I like the way she sounded.

"The two of you are a pair of loving brothers, aren't you?" Sakura's teasing tone snapped a nerve or two inside me and I responded faster than I knew I could.

"No." My glare ended up making Sakura laughed louder but instead of getting annoyed all over again, I found myself enjoying the moment.

" _I have fallen deeper than I thought, haven't I?"_

* * *

 **Sakura's POV**

"Don't cry, little boy. You're going to be just fine."

After Sasuke and I were done with dinner, we decided to walk around the Suna Kingdom. We somehow ended up in a quieter part of the town where we encountered a crying child who seemed to be around four years old.

He got separated from his parents and was trying to find them. However, he accidentally tripped and fell onto the ground. His knee was hurt and he cried when his injury started to bleed.

Sasuke stood behind me as I tended to the little boy's wound. Bringing along medical supplies wherever I went had already become a habit of mine.

I was at a loss as to what to do when the little boy continued crying even after I treated his wound. All I could think of was rubbing his back as a way of comforting him.

Then without any warning, Sasuke carried the little boy and brought him up into the air. He gently threw him upwards and gracefully catching him back into his arms.

"Everything's alright now. So stop crying, okay?"

Sasuke's spoke in such a soft voice as if he was handling something fragile. He threw the little boy a few more times and I simply stared in amazement.

I would never have imagined Sasuke would be good with kids.

The little boy stopped crying soon enough and even smiled a little. Sasuke returned the smile and wiped away the tears of the boy in his arms. The sight was indeed heartwarming and I broke into a smile as well.

After the little boy calmed down, he told us that his name was Takumi. And even though we had only just met, the adorable boy in front of us had grown attached to Sasuke. Seeing Sasuke around a kid was most probably one of the cutest things I had ever witnessed.

Sasuke carried Takumi on his back as we head back to the busier parts of the town. As we walked, I would playfully hold onto Takumi's hand and ruffled his light brown hair.

I blushed deeply when I heard a passerby saying that the three of us looked like a very happy family. I took a quick glance at Sasuke and spotted a light pink shade coloring his cheeks, which only served to make me even more flushed.

The two of us were saved from our slightly awkward situation when a pair of voices called out Takumi's name from afar.

Sasuke and I turned around and saw a pair of man and woman in their early 30s running towards our direction. Takumi became very excited when he saw his parents and waved at them as he greeted them.

Sasuke carried Takumi and landed him on the ground, letting him run into his parents' embrace. I could see how relieved his parents were when I saw his mother's teary eyes. From where I was, I couldn't hear what Takumi and his parents were talking about but I knew we were mentioned when I saw Takumi pointing to our direction.

Takumi's parents headed over to us and thanked us and apologized for the trouble caused.

"It's really alright. We're glad we were of help." I smiled to the nice looking couple as Sasuke nodded in agreement. After conversing for a short while, the pair of husband and wife said they needed to go.

Before they were completely out of sight, Takumi's father thanked us once again while his mother said something that made my face heat up all over again.

"The two of you are such a kind-hearted couple. I'm sure you'll always be happy together!"

I swore my cheeks were on fire in an instant. I couldn't even bring myself to look at Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke and I stood still for a while, neither of us moving an inch. I could feel my heart going crazy and it just wouldn't calm down no matter how much I wanted it to.

I was beyond glad when Sasuke started walking after an awfully long silence and spoke in a rather low voice.

"Let's go back now. It's getting late."

After the silence was broken, things went back to normal soon enough. The earlier nerve wrecking tension was gone and I could finally breathe again.

As we walked back to the castle, my curiosity got the better of me so I ended up asking Sasuke a question that had been in my mind for quite some time.

"Why are you so good with kids? That's honestly much unexpected."

Sasuke took his time in answering me and I could see that he was sort of hesitant. I stared at him in anticipation, becoming more curious by the second.

"I just did what Itachi did whenever I was upset before."

I followed my instinct and squealed when I heard the reason why Sasuke could cheer a crying boy so easily. I suddenly became an admirer of Sasuke's brotherly relationship with Itachi. It did sound weird but the two of them were just too cute.

And yes, I was very sure both of them would hate it if they knew I found them cute. But seriously, I couldn't deny how adorable those two were.

Sasuke was glaring at me as we got closer to the castle. The more pissed off he was, the louder I ended up laughing. I kept on imagining a crying young Sasuke and a loving Itachi who was trying to cheer his younger brother up.

Somehow, that thought was enough to make me smile.

It was already quite late when we reached the castle and Sasuke walked me back to my room, which was just a few doors away from his own. Truth be told, I felt sad when I knew it was time to part ways with Sasuke.

It was ridiculous for me to feel that way because I would be meeting him again in a few more hours. But I couldn't stop the loneliness that was surfacing when the time to say goodbye got even closer.

"Goodnight." I spoke softly while smiling, trying to hide the silly sadness inside of me.

I was about to turn around to get into my room when Sasuke did something I didn't even dared to dream of.

He reached down and gave me a gentle kiss on my forehead. His soft lips lingered for what felt like an eternity, making my heart go crazy for the hundredth time in that single night. When his lips left my burning skin, it felt cold and empty at the same time.

I didn't want him to go.

But it was obvious that Sasuke was shocked at his own action and I could see that in his dark eyes. We stared into each other as if searching for answers to what we were feeling.

Sasuke was the first to look away and muttered something to me before walking away.

"Goodnight, Sakura."

And I must say I loved the way he sounded when he called my name.

* * *

 **Naruto's POV**

"Sakura didn't punch him on the face!"

Shikamaru had to cover Ino's mouth with his hand when she was louder than she should be. The three of us were on our way back to our rooms when we saw something absolutely shocking.

Sasuke kissed Sakura on the forehead.

And I must say I was as surprised as Ino about the fact that Sakura didn't beat Sasuke into a pulp or at least punch him on the eye.

That could only mean one thing.

"They like each other, don't they?" I wasn't sure if I was making a statement or asking a question since I was still pretty surprised with the current situation.

"That seems to be the case." Shikamaru responded after letting go of Ino. Sasuke and Sakura had both entered into their respective rooms and I could see that they were still trying to digest everything that was happening around them.

"I have an immensely strong urge to interrogate Sakura right now but I know what she needs is some alone time." Ino sighed in disappointment when she realized she shouldn't head over to Sakura. Shikamaru seemed to be relief to see that Ino was capable of being considerate.

As for me, I wanted nothing more than to tease Sasuke.

"Do you think I'll still be alive by the end of the night if I were to go and embarrass Sasuke?" I didn't even know why I bothered asking when I knew the answer much too well already.

"I'll definitely be surprise if you will still be breathing after you do that."

Shikamaru's answer was what I needed to convince myself not to go over to Sasuke if I still wanted to see the sun.

The three of us went back to our rooms to rest for an early day tomorrow. As I drifted off to sleep, my mind was full of images of my two best friends.

I couldn't wait to see the development of their unique and most likely explosive love story.

* * *

Author's Note: Like mentioned previously, I won't be able to update very often. Your support and patience will be highly appreciated! And please review because it makes this writer super duper happy! Keep up with the follows and favorites too, dear readers. Thank you for reading and see you in the next chapter!


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